Yu-Gi-0h! Rise of a legend
by dragonicdevil
Summary: This is a remake of the first Yu-Gi-Oh with co-writer supertinagirl6 (elements from the manga is also included). Yugi Muto along as well as his partner Yami must participate in the Duelist Kingdom tournament in order to save their grandfather's soul that was stolen by Pegasus, so with his friends by his side, he travel to Duelist Kingdom in order to win and save his grandfather.
1. Heart of the cards

Yu-Gi-Oh! Rise of a Legend

Chapter 1

Two teenage boys, one with blonde hair and another with tri colored spiky hair that had a pendant in the shape of a upside down pyramid called the Millennium Puzzle around his neck that was dressed in blue school uniforms sat across from each other at a desk with cards in their hands.

The teen with blonde hair had his brown eyes narrowed in focus, trying to decide which card to play. Finally have decided, he placed down a card with the image with a spear and dagger called "Kagemusha of the Blue Flame." Atk: 800.

"Pretty good move eh, Yugi?" the blonde asked with a huge grin, proud of his decision as he ended his turn.

Yugi Muto couldn't help but smile at his best friend. As much he admired his spirit, he wasn't about to go easy on him.

"Pretty good Joey," he complimented as he selected one card from his hand, "but I got a better one."

Without any hesitation he placed down a card of green dragon called "Blackland Fire Dragon" on the table in attack position, Atk: 1500. His grin grew ever so wider as he finished off the last of his friend's life points, winning the duel.

Joey Wheeler stared in shock, glancing between the two cards in disbelief, grasping the comprehension he had just lost. Finally after a few seconds, he snickered with his hands resting behind his head.

"Seems I still got a lot to learn when it comes to Duel Monsters." he commented.

"Duel Monsters, don't think I heard of that game before." a teenage boy with brown pointed hair piped up as he leaned on Joey's shoulder, "Though from the looks of it, you don't seem very good at it."

With twitching brow, the blond-haired teen replied "Nyeh, shut yer trap Tristan." whilst shoving him away.

Yugi couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, "Well in order to play, you need a deck of at least 40 cards and then you also has 4000 life points, and once they reach zero, you win the duel. Also the game Duel Monsters has three different type of cards, monster cards, spell cards and trap cards, of course there is different types of monsters, spells and traps".

Yugi held up his Blackland Fire Dragon card so the ones around him could see it before he continued with a smile, "Monster cards are divided into normal monsters, effect monsters, Fusion monster and Ritual monsters, Ritual monsters needs a special Ritual card in order to be summoned, and Fusion monsters needs a card called Polymerization in order to be summoned by fusing two or more monsters together".

Yugi placed Blackland Fire Dragon back in to his deck along with his other cards before he shuffled it, "Spell cards normally are meant to help you, like increasing your monsters attack points or defense points, increase your life points, there is also Quick-Play spell cards that you can activate during both player's turn that can in some cases turn a battle in your favor".

Yugi then placed his deck back in to his deck box, "And then there is trap cards which is meant to cause trouble for your opponent, like destroying their monsters, weakening them, inflict effect damage to them.

Yugi then got shocked when he received compliments for not only knowing so much about the game, but also being very skilled. He couldn't help but blush a bit out of flattery. He didn't see himself as a skilled duelist. He just only saw himself as a regular kid just having fun.

He tried to downplay the praise he was receiving but immediately heard a female voice tell him otherwise, "Oh come on Yugi, you're always selling yourself short, I know that I don't really know much about it, but based on what I saw, you're quite good".

His purple eyes glancing upwards, he saw a girl with brown hair and blue eyes smiling at him, reinforcing the praises.

Out of reflex, the teen immediately glanced downward with a bright blush on his face. He knew the girl, Tea Gardner, was always trying to boost his confidence since they were kids. It was an attribute he admired in her; the ability to see the best in people. It was because of this he carried a strong crush for her. Even when he was at his lowest point, he knew he could always count on Tea to help him straight back up.

"So Yug, where did you learn to play like that any way?" Joey questioned, snapping the teen out of his wistful thoughts.

"Oh I guess I should explain myself. See my grandpa owns a game shop." Yugi began to explain, "I was curious about the game and he taught me how to play. He's a really great teacher. I've learned about all sorts of cards. He even has a special rare card."

"Rare, how rare are we talking?" the blonde replied out of curiosity.

"Pretty rare, if you like, I can ask him if he wants to show it to you guys." the tri-colored-haired teen replied.

Excitement clearly shined in the three teens' eyes. They didn't want to pass up the opportunity to see such a rare item. But unknown to them, they weren't the only ones interested.

Sitting across the room with a book in hand was a fifteen year-old with brown hair. His icy cold blue eyes slightly shifted toward the direction of the group. His eyes narrowed when he heard the talk of a rare card. He found it hard to believe an owner of a small card shop would be in possession of something so rare. Yet no matter how much he tried, he couldn't demolish the curiosity lingering in his mind.

Once the school day had end, Yugi and his friends didn't waste any time making their way to game shop. Upon arriving they were greeted with the sight of an old man with spiky gray hair and beard, dressed in brown overalls. He was struggling to carry a large box. It was Solomon Muto, Yugi's grandfather.

Noticing this, Yugi quickly ran over, helping lift up the box and carry it over to the counter.

"Oh Yugi, you didn't need to do that." the old man stated.

The sixteen year-old simply smiled as he replied "It's no trouble at all, Grandpa. Besides, I enjoy helping out with the shop."

Yugi's grandfather chuckled before finally turning his attention to the rest of the teenager's standing in the room.

"Now I recognize Tea, but not the other two. Yugi, are these friends of yours as well?" he asked to confirm his thoughts.

The teen nodded his head in response before introducing Joey and Tristan, explaining how they were curious to see his rare card.

Yugi's grandfather couldn't help but smile. It was heartwarming to see his grandson make friends, especially when Tea was his only one for the longest time. Deciding to fulfill the young teen's wish, he walked around to the back of the counter and pulled out a small wooden box.

"Now I just want you all to know that this card is truly special and that I wouldn't part with it for anything in the world. So don't be disappointed when I don't wish to sell it to you." he stated in a stern tone.

He watched as the three teens nodded their heads in understanding before opening up the box. Inside was a single card featuring a drawing of a white dragon with blue eyes.

Joey's eyes practically lit up in amazement. He had thought the cards Yugi had used during their match were powerful cards, yet they were nothing compared to the one before him.

"Do you have any more cards like this one? I would love to buy them!" he asked eagerly.

"I do not, this my only copy of Blue-Eyes White Dragon and as I said I don't intend to sell it, card collectors would pay a fortune for this card since it only exists four copies of it in the world." Yugi's grandfather replied, but upon noticing the small disappoint on Joey's face continued "But I can show you what I am selling, we can see if there's anything you like."

At that instant, the blonde immediately sprung up in excitement.  
The group of teens got ready to start browsing the selection of cards the shop had to offer. Yet before they could start looking, they heard the door open. Turning around, they saw standing in the doorway was none other than the brunette with icy-blue eyes. The group of teens was immediately taken back in shock. They knew the teen as Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp.

Kaiba glanced around the shop with clear disinterest painted on his face. He knew the shop certainly wouldn't be high standard or glamorous, but he considered its appearance below his expectations. Not even bothering to speak to the teens, he made his way to the counter, shoving Joey to the side slightly whilst doing so.  
Joey snarled in anger, he most suddenly would've lunge at at the young CEO if it weren't for Yugi holding him.

Deciding to shatter the deafening silence, Yugi's grandfather spoke up "Is there anything I can help you with young man?"

The brunette did not reply; having no interest in speaking to those beneath his level. His eyes careful scanned the counter, searching for the supposed rare card. It only took a few seconds for him to spot the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. Upon seeing it, he inhaled sharply and lost control of his calm and stern composure.

 _It's true! This old man has a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card!_ He thought in disbelief, _Why is it in a dump like this?! Ugh, that doesn't matter! Right now I need to get it!_

Brushing aside his shocked thoughts, Kaiba finally uttered his first words by exclaiming "How much are you willing to sell that card for?"

Solomon furrowed his brows together in concern. While the teen seemed harmless, he felt worry over the teen's reaction to a single card. Deciding to give him an answer, the old man closed the box and placed it back in the counter.

"I will tell you the same thing I told my grandson's friends. This card is not for sale and I will not part with it no matter what is offered to me I got this card from a very dear friend of mine, and so to me, this card is almost as valuable to me as my friend is".

Solomon looked at Kaiba with a smile, "I have other cards available for sell if you're interested. But if this is the only thing you want, I'm afraid you'll have to take your business elsewhere."

Kaiba couldn't believe what he was hearing. His teeth clenched together in frustration. No one in his life had denied him of anything and he wasn't about to let an old man to be the first. Without another word, he stormed out of the shop, slamming the door loudly behind him. If he couldn't gain the card through purchase, then he would resort to other means, anything to get the job done. With this in mind, a dark and slightly sadistic smirk formed on Kaiba's face.

Later that evening, Kaiba was sitting in his office at Kaiba Corp waiting, then a man with brown hair with the shape of a spike in front came in to the office, Kaiba looked at him, "Did you find the cards?" He asked with a serious tone in his voice, hoping for the man's sake that he had good news.

The man nodded his head and held up three cards, "It was not easy to find them, however we managed to find them and get our hands on them, not only that, but we also found a few support cards for them".

Kaiba got a cruel smirk on his face, "Good, which means that the only one left is the old man, well, I have something special planned for him, a little punishment for refusing selling the card to me". Kaiba let out a chuckle.

The next morning, Yugi's grandfather had just opened the shop and was cleaning the desk when he heard the door bell ring as the door opened, "Good morn…"

However he got quiet when he saw two tall men in suits with a smaller butler looking bald man with small glasses in front of them. The smaller man took a step forward, "My dear sir, my boss, Seto Kaiba has challenged you to a duel, so I would like you to come with us, and also bring a certain card with you".

Solomon narrowed his eyes slightly, "And if I were to… refuse the challenge?"

The short man chuckled, "I'm afraid that refusing is not acceptable, you will come with us willingly, or we will bring you by force". Solomon looked at the men behind the shorter man, he then sighed tired, knowing that he had no way out of this challenge.

"Fine, I'll come with you, and I'll show that young man a thing or two about the Heart of the Cards". Solomon went behind the desk and grabbed his deck as well as his Blue-Eyes White Dragon and put it in to his deck before he followed the men in to a limo that drove towards Kaiba Corp.

Later that day, Yugi and his friends was walking towards the Kame game shop, Joey and Yugi had dueled in school again, and while it had gone a little better for Joey, he still lost pretty easy to Yugi, which is why he wanted more cards and maybe a few tips from Yugi's grandfather.

Yugi opened the door to the game shop, "I'm home grandpa". However to his shock he didn't receive an answer since the shop was empty.

Joey looked at Yugi confused, "Do you think he went out to buy something?"

Tea however shook her head, "I don't think so, he would never forget to close the shop and lock the door if he went out right Yugi?" She turned towards Yugi while she asked that.

Yugi had a troubled expression on his face, "You're right Tea, he would never forget to close the shop if he goes out to get something, this is unlike him and that makes me worried".

Tristan placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder with a reassuring smile on his face, "I'm sure that he's fine Yugi, I mean he must just have forgotten to lock the door for once, that happens to everyone right?"

Yugi nodded his head, but he still wasn't fully convinced. However at that moment so rang the phone in the shop.

Yugi walked over to the phone on the wall and picked it up and held it to his ear, "Hello, this is the Kame game shop".

Yugi's eyes when widened in shock when he heard the voice on the other side of the line, "Ah, Yugi, I'm glad I got a hold of you". Yugi didn't like the cruel tone he heard in Kaiba's voice, "Kaiba?"

Tea, Joey and Tristan got shocked and then suspicious expressions on their faces when they heard Yugi say Kaiba's name.

Yugi then listened as Kaiba continued with a cruel mocking tone, "You're grandfather came to Kaiba Corp for a friendly duel, however the old man isn't feeling well right now, so please come by and pick him up".

Kaiba then hung up before Yugi could ask what he meant, Yugi looked at the phone with a worried expression on his face, Yugi then hung up the phone before he looked at his friends, "Grandpa is at Kaiba Corp, according to Kaiba, they dueled against each other, however something is wrong with grandpa".

Tea got a worried expression on her face while Joey clenched his fists while Tristan turned towards the door again, "Then what are you waiting for? Let's get to him fast". Joey and Tea nodded and all four of them ran out of the game shop in order to get to Kaiba Corp.

A while later, the gang had reached the Kaiba Corp headquarters and ran over to the elevator and got in to it and then it brought them all up to the top of the tall Kaiba Corp building.

Once the doors to the elevator opened up the gang got horrified at the sight of Solomon lying on the floor groaning in pain.

Yugi quickly ran towards Solomon, "Grandpa, Grandpa! What's wrong grandpa?" Yugi went down a knee in front of Solomon with a worried expression on his face.

Solomon looked up at Yugi with a pained expression and barely managed to speak, "Y…Yugi… I lost… I was forced to duel that Kaiba kid and wanted to teach him to duel with the heart and to trust your deck, but I lost… a… and then…" Kaiba then groaned in pain while he held his hand over his chest which made Yugi even more worried.

Kaiba then appeared out a door opening, "How is the old man feeling?" Kaiba had a smirk on his face as he said it.

Joey, Tea and Tristan glared at Kaiba with disdain, "Kaiba you damn bastard! What did you do to gramps?!" Joey screamed while it looked like was holding himself back from running over and punching Kaiba in the face.

Kaiba chuckled while he closed his eyes while the smirk on his face grew bigger, "All we did was duel in the virtual stadium my company has been developing and we also betted our best card, however the old man no match for me and of course received a punishment because of it which seemed a little too much for his old heart".

Tea pointed at Kaiba while Tristan was forced to hold Joey to prevent him from attacking Kaiba even though he wanted to do so himself, "I beat you used dirty tricks during that your match!"

Kaiba looked at her with a slightly insulted expression on his face, "No way, when it comes to Duel Monsters, I always play by the rules". He then got a smirk on his face again as he took out a card of his pocket and then revealed it and the gang gasped when they saw that it was Yugi's grandfather's Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.

"And look at the nice prize I won, now I wonder what should I do with it?" He then turned the card over on side before grabbed both ends of the card.

Yugi's eyes widened in fear and horror when he realized what Kaiba was about to do, "Kaiba, don't do it!"

Kaiba who was about to rip Blue-Eyes White Dragon in half stopped and looked at Yugi while his smirk grew bigger, "And why should I listen to you? After all I won this card from your grandfather, which means I can do whatever I want with it?"

Yugi looked at Kaiba with an angry expression on his face while tears threatened to appear in his eyes, "How can you be so cruel? That card is irreplaceable for grandpa so how could you take it from him and then threaten to destroy it?"

Kaiba let out a cruel laugh, "You mean that Heart of the Cards nonsense your grandfather said he would try and teach me? Don't tell me you actually believe that nonsense".

Kaiba held up Blue-Eyes, "Power is all that matters in Duel Monsters, which is why a monster as powerful as Blue-Eyes White Dragon is wasted on a fool like your grandfather".

Yugi gritted his teeth, Kaiba then lowered his arm that held Blue-Eyes White Dragon, "I asked you to come so I could tear this card in front of you before you took your grandfather to the hospital, however I got a better idea now, duel me Yugi".

Yugi widened in shock when he heard that, "Duel you? Are you crazy? I need to take grandpa to a hospital, I can't waste time dueling you".

Kaiba chuckled, "Your friends can take him to the hospital while we duel, and as a bonus…" Kaiba held up Blue-Eyes White Dragon again, "If you manage to defeat me while believing in your grandfather's philosophy, I'll return this Blue-Eyes White Dragon".

Yugi got even more shocked when he heard that, he then narrowed his eyes, "You're really that confident that you'll win?"

Kaiba nodded his head, "Of course, and once I've defeated you and proven that your grandfather's believes are nothing but nonsense, I'll tear this Blue-Eyes apart in front of your eyes, then you're going to have to tell your grandfather how you failed him".

Yugi gritted his teeth, however he then noticed how his grandpa held out a deck towards him, "Grandpa?"

Solomon's hand was shaking as he held out his deck towards, "Take it Yugi, I put my entire heart in to making this deck, my soul is inside of it, and I taught you everything I know about Duel Monsters and you have since a while ago surpassed me, so please, use this deck to teach that boy Kaiba a lesson about believing in your deck".

Yugi looked at his grandpa while he hesitated, he didn't want to disappoint his grandfather, but he knew that he needed to get his grandpa to the hospital.

However Yugi then heard Joey exclaim, "Take him down Yugi!" Yugi turned his head around shocked and looked at Tristan and Joey who looked at him with determined expressions on their faces while Tea was talking in her cell phone.

Joey then continued, "We'll make sure that gramps gets to the hospital, so all you need to focus is to teach that arrogant rich boy a lesson by using gramps deck".

Yugi looked at Joey and Tristan who looked at him with expressions of total faith that he would be able to beat Kaiba, "You guys…"

Tea came towards them while she put away her cell phone, "I just called for an ambulance". She then looked at Yugi with the same expression as Joey and Tristan, "Joey is right, let us take care of grandpa and just focus on defeating Kaiba, for your grandpa's sake Yugi".

Joey nodded his head and got a smile on his face, "We know you can do it, after all you're more amazing that you know, after all, you managed to change me and Tristan who was nothing but troublemakers and made us better people, so defeating Kaiba should be easy for you, especially since your grandpa told us yesterday that you're good enough to participate in the Regional Championship and would most likely win the whole thing".

Yugi looked at his friends for a few seconds before he got a determined expression on his face. He turned towards his grandpa and took the deck, "Alright grandpa, I'll defeat him for you by using the deck you built".

Solomon got a weak grateful smile on his face, "Thank you Yugi, I know you can do this my boy".

Tea then took out a marker, "Guys, gather together and hold out your right hands". Yugi, Joey and Tristan looked at her confused but did as she told them, she then held out her hand too and then drew a smiley that covered all of their hands.

The three boys looked at the pieces of the smiley they had on their separate hands confused, "What's this? Why did you draw a smiley on our hands Tea?"

Tea held up her right hand and showed her part of the smiley, "This is the symbol of our friendship and the bond between the four of us, the ink will fade away eventually, but its meaning will never as it will remain in our hearts forever". The boys looked at the parts of the smiley on their hands again before they looked at Tea with smiles on their faces and nodded their heads.

Tristan then bent down while Yugi and Joey carefully placed Solomon on his back. Tristan then got up and walked hurried towards the elevator while Tea looked at Joey, "Joey, leave grandpa to me and Tristan, stay here and support Yugi". Tea herself wanted to stay to support her childhood friend that had always been there for her, but she also wanted to make sure that grandpa would be okay which is why she decided to ask Joey to stay.

Joey got a shocked expression on his face for a second before he got a serious expression on his face and he nodded his head, "Alright, just take good care of gramps Tea". Tea nodded her head and ran towards the elevator where Tristan was waiting.

Kaiba chuckled, "Your friendship sure is touching, however I'm getting bored here watching you guys, so how about we get started?" Joey turned around and growled while he glared at Kaiba.

A man in a suit then came up next to Kaiba and Kaiba gave him the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, "Take this to Mokuba and tell him to give it to Wheeler over there if I lose this duel". The man nodded his head before he left.

Kaiba then turned towards Yugi who was looking at him, he looked at the deck Yugi was holding in his hands and a mocking smirk appeared on his face, "If you think you can beat me with that pathetic deck then please just try it, now follow me". Kaiba turned around and walked through the door opening with Yugi and Joey not far behind him.

A little while later Joey was standing in front of spectator seats while he was standing next to the railing while he looked at a large stadium room and saw how Kaiba and Yugi appeared on two platforms.

Kaiba looked at Yugi, "I've personally designed this virtual stadium, this system will make the game of Duel Monsters more interesting". Kaiba then placed his deck down on its spot, "Are you ready to play, shrimp?"

Yugi placed his deck down on its spot, "The time for games is over Kaiba". The Millennium Puzzle around his neck then began glowing and a bright light appeared out of it. Once the light disappeared, Yugi had grown gotten a head taller, three of his blonde locks was standing up against the black spiky hair like lightning bolts, his usually half round eyes was more narrowed now and the confident expression on his face was not usually on Yugi's face.

Kaiba's eyes widened in shock, at the same time, next to Yugi so appeared the normal Yugi, _"Yami, why did you take over?"_ The one called Yami looked at Yugi, _"I'm just worried Yugi, it's not that I don't think you're not good enough to defeat him, I just have a bad feeling"_.

Yugi looked at Yami who looked at him with a concerned expression on his face. Yugi's grandpa had given him the Millennium Puzzle 8 years ago to see if he could complete it since no one had been able to put it together since it was found, it had taken him 8 years, but he had managed to finish it a few months ago.

Yugi then had noticed that from time to time, he had gaps in his memory, he eventually suspected he had another self inside of himself due to the Puzzle that took over at those times, and eventually, he managed to contact his other self, he then learned that his other self was a spirit inside of his Puzzle that had no memories about himself, so since he was like a more confident version of Yugi, they decided to call him Yami.

Yugi nodded his head, _"I understand Yami, I'll leave this duel to you"._ Yami smiled at Yugi before he turned towards Kaiba and both of them drew their first five cards.

Kaiba placed his fingers on his deck, "The first move is mine". He drew his sixth card and looked at it, a smirk appeared on his face before he placed it on the display table in front of him, "I summon Ryo-Kishin Powered in attack mode".

A green light appeared in front of Kaiba and inside of it a purple fiend creature appeared, Atk: 1600.

Yami got a shocked expression on his face, "What? You brought the monster to life?" He narrowed his eyes, _This isn't a Shadow Game, so how did Ryo-Kishin Powered appear like that?_ He wondered.

Kaiba chuckled, "Yeah, thanks to my virtual simulator which turns the monsters in to holograms with life imitating abilities, also the effects of spells and traps will also appear as holograms as well".

Kaiba looked at his hand, "I end my turn now, so make your move Yugi".

Yami narrowed his eyes, "So this is how you defeated my grandpa". He then placed his fingers on his deck and drew his sixth card and looked at it. He then placed it in his hand and grabbed another card in his hand, "I'll start by summoning Breaker the Magical Warrior in attack mode". A green light appeared in front of Yami and a magician in red armor with a magical sword and a red shield, Atk: 1600.

Yami then held out his hand, "And now, Breaker the Magical Warrior's special ability activates, when he's normal summoned, he gain one spell counter as well as 300 attack points". Breaker the Magical Warrior, Atk: 1600-1900.

Joey couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at the monsters standing on the field ready to battle against each other.

Yami then grabbed another card in his hand and revealed it to be a spell card with the image of a book, "And next, I equip Breaker with the spell card Book of Secret Arts, now this card will increase the attack and defense of the spellcaster it's equipped to by 300 points". Breaker the Magical Warrior Atk & Def: 1900-2200/1000-1300.

Yami then pointed at Ryu-Kishin Powered, "Now Breaker, attack his Ryu-Kishin Powered!" Breaker's sword began to glow and then he swung it at Ryu-Kishin Powered and sent a slash of energy towards him and destroyed him, causing Kaiba to shield his face, Kaiba LP: 4000-3400.

Yami looked at Kaiba, "That ends my turn, your move Kaiba".

A small boy with long black hair appeared next to the railing and looked at Kaiba worried, "Seto! Are you okay?" It was Kaiba's younger brother, Mokuba Kaiba.

Kaiba didn't answer Mokuba and just placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card. He got a smirk on his face and looked at Yami, "Not a bad move for a rookie, however now since my field is empty, I can special summon Kaiser Vorse Raider from my hand". A green light appeared in front of Kaiba again and a blue skin creature with purple armor clothes and a giant axe in its hands appeared on the field, Atk: 1900.

Yami narrowed his eyes, "Kaiser Vorse Raider huh? That's indeed a powerful monster, however it's still not strong enough to take down my Breaker".

Kaiba's smirk grew bigger as he grabbed another card in his hand, "It's true that your Breaker the Magical Warrior has 2200 while my Kaiser Vorse Raider only has 1900, however…" He revealed the card he had grabbed and it was a spell card with the image of a goblin shrinking to half of its original size, "By activating the spell card Shrink, I can cut your Breaker's original attack points in half".

Yami got a worried expression on his face when he heard that, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Atk: 2200-1400.

Kaiba then grabbed another card, "And next, I summon Peten the Dark Clown in attack mode". A green light appeared next to Kaiser Vorse Raider and a clown with the red hat with purple hair on it in a yellow and green strip suit appeared on the field, Atk: 500.

Kaiba then pointed at Breaker, "Now Kaiser Vorse Raider, attack Breaker the Magical Warrior now". Kaiser Vorse Raider ran towards Breaker while he raised his axe before he swung it down at Breaker and slashed him with it, destroying Breaker and causing Yami to shield his face, Yami LP: 4000-3500.

Kaiba then held out his hand towards Kaiser Vorse Raider, "And now Kaiser Vorse Raider's special ability activates, when he destroys a monster in battle, he also gains 500 more attack points". Kaiser Vorse Raider then roared, Atk: 1900-2400.

Yami gritted his teeth while Yugi who was in spirit form looked at him worried, _"This is bad Yami, we need to destroy that Kaiser Vorse Raider before he becomes too powerful"_ Yami looked at Yugi and saw that as he was as worried as he sounded, and to be truthful, he was just as concerned as Yugi was.

Kaiba then pointed at Yami, "Now prepare yourself Yugi, because Peten the Dark Clown will now attack your life points directly". Peten then chuckled as he spun around on the spot and vanished before he appeared behind Yami and pulled out a dagger and stabbed Yami in the back, causing him to gasp, Yami LP: 3500-3000.

Peten then reappeared on Kaiba's field while Kaiba looked at his hand before he looked at Yami, "I end my turn, make your move Yugi".

Joey had a shocked expression on his face, "Wait, he's just gonna leave his Peten unprotected like that? I'm sure that Yug has something that can easily blast it to pieces".

Yami however narrowed his eyes, he knew why Kaiba had left Peten unprotected on the field, Yugi looked at Yami while he narrowed his eyes, _"He's baiting us, he want us to attack his Peten so that when he attacks, Kaiser Vorse Raider will not only gain more attack points, Kaiba will also deal battle damage to us"_. Yami nodded his head since he knew that Yugi was right about that, Kaiba wanted them to attack Peten.

Yami placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn". He drew his next card and looked at it and then turned it around and it was a spell card with the image of a jar with a grin on it, "Now I activate Pot of Greed which means I get to draw two cards".

Yami drew two more cards and looked at them, he narrowed his eyes frustrated when he saw that he had drawn a monster card with a chained left leg in front of the part of a circle called Left Leg of the Forbidden One, he already a similar card, only it was a chained right arm called Right Arm of the Forbidden One.

 _These cards are not useful at all right now, I'm sure that grandpa gathered them for a reason, but right now, I need to defend myself with another monster in order to defend my life points,_ Yami thought to himself troubled while wondering what he could do. He then noticed the other card he had drawn and his eyes widened in surprise.

Yami looked at his hand a smirk appeared on his face, he then placed the leg card in his hand and grabbed another card in his hand and revealed that it was a spell card with the image of an ancient scroll, "Now I activate Ancient Rules, which means that I can now special summon a level 5 or above normal monster from my hand".

Yami then turned around the card he had just drawn and revealed it was a magician in purple clothes with a long green staff, "Now I special summon my Dark Magician in attack mode". A green light then appeared on the field and Dark Magician appeared out of it, Atk: 2500.

Kaiba gritted his teeth, he hadn't expected Yami to summon a monster with 2500 attack points, which meant that his Kaiser Vorse Raider couldn't defeat it.

Yami pointed at Peten the Dark Clown, "Now Dark Magician, attack Peten the Dark Clown with Dark Magic Attack". Dark Magician held out his staff and a green blast was fired from the top of it and it hit Peten the Dark Clown and destroyed him, Kaiba LP: 3400-1400.

Mokuba got a worried expression on his face, "Seto!" He couldn't believe what he was seeing, his brother was down to less than half of his life points because of just one attack.

Joey on the other hand had a happy expression on his face, "Alright, go Yugi! Just a little more and gramps Blue-Eyes White Dragon will be back where it belongs".

Kaiba looked at Yami with a smirk, "I knew from seeing you duel in class that you were good Yugi, but you're even better than I thought".

Kaiba then held up Peten's card, "However, since you sent Peten the Dark Clown to the graveyard, you activated his special ability which allows me to remove him from the game in order to special summon another Peten from my deck or hand".

Kaiba grabbed his deck and looked through it before he grabbed a card and placed it on the field, another Peten appeared on the field on his knee while he chuckled, Def: 1200. Kaiba then shuffled his deck and then put it back down on its slot.

Yami looked at his hand, he then looked at Kaiba, "I end my turn now Kaiba".

Kaiba placed his fingers on his deck, "My move then". He drew his next card and looked at it, "This card should look familiar to you Yugi, I activate Pot of Greed in order to draw twice more". Kaiba revealed his Pot of Greed as he said that before activating it and drawing two more cards.

Kaiba looked at the two cards he had drawn, "I summon Enraged Battle Ox in defense mode". A large humanoid ox with red armor and an axe in his right hand appeared on the field on a knee, Def: 1000.

Kaiba looked at Yami, "And with that I end my turn, so make your move Yugi".

Yami narrowed his eyes, Yugi looked at him troubled, _"All he did was summon a monster in defense mode, he didn't even switch his Kaiser Vorse Raider to defense mode, he must be waiting for something, also do you think he's not worried about losing life points because it's only 100 difference between Dark Magician and Kaiser Vorse Raider?_

Yami looked at him out of the corner of his eye, _"I don't know Yugi, maybe Kaiser Vorse Raider has another ability that we don't know about yet"._ Yugi got a worried expression on his face when he heard that and both he and Yami looked at Kaiba, wondering what he was planning.

Yami placed his fingers on his deck, "I'll draw". He drew his next card and saw that it was a chained left arm, he narrowed his eyes, he looked at the other two in his hand, he wondered why the name Forbidden One sounded so familiar.

Yami placed the left arm in his hand and grabbed another one, "I place one monster face down in defense mode". The monster zone to the right of Dark Magician began to glow green.

Yami then pointed at Kaiser Vorse Raider, "Now Dark Magician, attack his Kaiser Vorse Raider with Dark Magic Attack". Dark Magician unleashed another Dark Magic Attack at Kaiser Vorse Raider and destroyed him, Kaiba LP: 1400-1300.

Kaiba got a smirk on his face and held up Kaiser Vorse Raider, "Now the second ability of Kaiser Vorse Raider activates, if it's destroyed in battle, the monster that destroyed it loses 500 attack points". Dark Magician, Atk: 2500-2000.

Yami gritted his teeth a little when he saw Dark Magician lose attack points, however he still had 2000 which was good. Yami looked at his hand, he had three Forbidden One cards in his hand which he didn't know what purpose they had.

He had also just placed a monster in defense mode which would be able to protect him if Kaiba summoned a monster with high attack, also he have the spell card Multiply in his hand which he couldn't even use right now.

Yami looked at Kaiba, "I'll end my turn, now make your move Kaiba".

Kaiba chuckle, "Now I'm going to make to experience true terror". Kaiba drew his next card and looked at it, he then placed it in his hand before he grabbed another one while his smirk grew bigger, "Now I sacrifice both Peten the Dark Clown and Enraged Battle Ox, so that I can summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Yami's and Yugi's eyes widened in shock when they heard what Kaiba had just said, they then saw how both Enraged Battle Ox and Peten disappeared and the majestic white dragon with blue eyes appeared on the field with a mighty roar, Atk: 3000.

Yami looked at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon with disbelieving eyes, "But… but how?" He just didn't know how Kaiba could have summoned Blue-Eyes since Kaiba's brother Mokuba should have his grandfather's Blue-Eyes right now.

Joey looked at Mokuba just as confused as Yami, "That's impossible! You should have that card right?" Mokuba didn't answer Joey's question and just took out Solomon's Blue-Eyes and revealed it to Joey who got even more confused when he saw the card.

Kaiba laughed when he saw Yami's expression, "Don't tell me that you don't know that there exist four copies of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the world?" Kaiba asked with a smug tone.

Kaiba grabbed his deck with a smug look on his face, "And since Peten the Dark Clown was sent to my graveyard, I can special summon my third and final Peten the Dark Clown in defense mode". He looked through his deck and then grabbed his final Peten before he shuffled his deck and placed it down and then his final Peten then appeared on a knee on the field, Def: 1200

Kaiba then grabbed another card in his hand and revealed that it was a spell card with the image of a warrior riding towards a monster, "Next I activate the spell card Back-Up Rider".

Yami widened his eyes in shock and worry when he heard the name of the spell card, "Back-Up Rider?"

Kaiba's smirk grew bigger, "Judging by the expression on your face you know that this card increases the attack points of one monster on the field by 1500 until the end phase of this turn, and of course I choose Blue-Eyes!" Blue-Eyes let out a roar, Atk: 3000-4500.

Yami looked at Blue-Eyes with fear in his eyes, "It… it has 4500 attack points?" Sweat started to form in Yami's forehead since he knew that once Blue-Eyes destroyed Dark Magician, he would lose most of his life points.

Kaiba pointed at Dark Magician, "Now Blue-Eyes, attack Dark Magician with White Lightning!" Blue-Eyes opened his mouth and white lightning gathered in his mouth before he unleashed a stream of white lightning towards Dark Magician and destroyed him, forcing Yami to shield his face from the shockwaves, Yami LP: 3000-500.

Joey got a worried expression on his face, "Yugi!" He screamed, he couldn't believe his eyes, he had never once seen Yugi's life points go below 1000, as much as he didn't want to admit it, Kaiba was seriously good.

Yami gritted his teeth as he looked at Kaiba, _Thanks to Back-Up Rider, he wiped out almost all of my life points in one hit, if I take another hit from Blue Eyes then I'm done for,_ he thought as sweat was starting to run down his face.

Yugi appeared next to him, _"Yeah, grandpa gave us a few copies of it, while he has taught us that our deck will help us if we believe in it, he also taught us that it's not bad to have a back-up plan just in case"_.

Yami nodded his head when he heard what Yugi had said to him. He and Yugi had barely used the Back-Up Riders that their grandfather had given them, however they still had one in their deck most of the time and sometimes two, but never all three since they rather outsmart the opponent than use raw power to win

Kaiba crossed his arms with a confident smirk on his face, "I end my turn Yugi, which means that the effect of Back-Up Rider ends now". Blue-Eyes, Atk: 4500-3000.

Kaiba looked at Yami, "It's your turn now, but it doesn't matter what you draw, you will fall to the might of my superior monsters Yugi, just like your pathetic grandfather, and then you'll face the same punishment game as he did".

Yami narrowed his eyes, "You mentioned earlier that you put him through a punishment game, what does that mean Kaiba?"

Kaiba chuckled, "That's right, I never told you did I? Well then, let me show you". Kaiba snapped his fingers and static appeared on the monitors that showed both of their life points and then a video appeared on them.

Yami then saw to his horror how Solomon got surrounded by a glass cage while he was standing on the platform and some sort of gas appeared in it and then what looked like monsters appeared in it and Solomon screamed in fear as the creatures closed in on him. The one in front of him then opened his jaws and leaned in towards Solomon's head.

However at that moment so did the video stop and their life points reappeared on them. Yami clenched his right fist which started shaking because of the rage that was building up inside of him.

Yami looked at Kaiba with rage visible on his face, "Kaiba, how could you do something that cruel to my grandfather?"

Kaiba shrugged his shoulders, "He lost so it was only natural to receive a punishment for it, now draw Yugi".

Yami gritted his teeth and drew his next card, he narrowed his eyes and looked at Kaiba, "I summon a monster in defense mode". Another one of Yami's monster zones began to glow green.

Yami looked at Kaiba, "With that, I end my turn Kaiba".

Kaiba chuckled, "You just summoned another monster in defense mode? That won't save you Yugi".

Kaiba placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card, a smirk then appeared on his face, "Just what I needed, I now activate the spell card White Dragon Ritual". Kaiba said with smug tone as he revealed a spell card with the image of a green skinned warrior with white armor and a cape that held up a sword to the sky.

Kaiba then grabbed a card in his hand and revealed it to be a card with the image of an old man with a white beard with a red armor that had dragons horns and wings on it that sat on a rock, "Now by sacrificing the level 4 Keeper of the Shrine, I can summon Paladin of White Dragon from my hand".

Keeper of the Shrine then appeared for a moment before he disappeared, and then the warrior who had been on the Ritual spell card then appeared on the back on a small white dragon with yellow eyes, Atk: 1900.

Kaiba then pointed at the second card Yami had placed face down, "Now Paladin of White Dragon, attack his face down monster". The dragon the paladin was riding roared and flew towards it so fast that it became a beam of light and crashed down in to it.

Yami gritted his teeth and placed his face down monster which was a magician dressed in dark blue robes with an hat with yellow spikes with two red orbs and had two wing like blades coming out the back of its robes called Maha Vailo in his graveyard.

Kaiba then pointed at his other face down, "Now Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack his other face down monster". Blue-Eyes then unleashed another White Lightning and hit the other face down monster.

Kaiba had a smirk on his face until he saw a elf warrior in green and grown armor with a purple cape sitting on a knee with his sword in front of him after the White Lightning disappeared, Def: 1200.

Yami looked at Kaiba, "Sorry to tell you this Kaiba, but my Obnoxious Celtic Guard can't be destroyed in battle by a monster with 1900 attack points or more".

Kaiba narrowed his eyes, "I guess I should've attacked him with my Paladin of White Dragon then since he would've been able to destroy him since he was face down". Kaiba had a bitter tone in his voice when he said that.

However he then got a smirk on his face, "However, since he can't destroy him anymore, I'm going to use him the way I originally planned, now I activate his special ability".

Paladin of White Dragon then shattered and Yami looked at Kaiba shocked as he grabbed his deck and looked through it, "By sacrificing Paladin of White Dragon, I can special summon a certain monster from my deck or hand".

Yami got a bad feeling from the cruel and amused tone in Kaiba's voice. Kaiba then grabbed a card in his deck and shuffled it before he placed it down again.

Kaiba then held up the card and looked at Yami, "The Goddess of Victory is on my field Yugi, now I summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon in attack mode".

A second Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared next to the first one and roared, Atk: 3000. Yami stared at the two dragons that glared at him, "A second one?"

Kaiba then grabbed a card in his graveyard, "Also since I sent Paladin of White Dragon to the graveyard due to his own ability, Keeper of the Shrine's special ability activates and I can special summon him to the field". Keeper of the Shrine then appeared on the field in a sitting position, Def: 2100.

Kaiba looked at Yami, "I end my turn, however why don't you just admit your defeat Yugi? I mean there is no way you can defeat my two Blue-Eyes". Yami gritted his teeth and looked at his deck, he knew that it was only a matter of time before Kaiba drew something that would be able to beat Obnoxious Celtic Guard, which meant he needed to draw a card that could protect him.

At the same time,

Tea and Tristan was waiting outside of the Emergency Surgery room where they were treating Solomon with worried expressions on their faces. Tea looked up at the ceiling worried, "Yugi, please be careful".

At the same time, Yami placed his fingers on his deck, _Alright deck, grandpa put his whole heart in to making you so I believe in you, I know you will help me out of this situation_.

Yami drew his next card and looked at it and his eyes widened when he saw that it was a spell card with the image of swords of light that fell from the sky.

Yami placed the spell card in one of the spell and trap card zones on his display table, "I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light, now this cards will prevent you from attacking me for three turns". Then dozens of swords of light fell down from the sky and trapped the two Blue-Eyes that roared in anger.

Kaiba got a shocked expression on his face for a second before a confident smile appeared on his face, "I'm actually surprised that you managed to draw a card like Swords of Revealing Light, however what do you think you can accomplish by prolonging this duel by three turns?'

Yami gritted his teeth and looked at the four cards in his hand, _He's right, none of the cards in my hand can beat those two Blue-Eyes, am I going to lose this duel?_

However at that moment he heard a familiar voice behind him, "Have you already given up Yugi? That's not like you". Yami looked behind him and saw the spirit of Solomon behind him with a smile, he turned towards it shocked, "Grandpa!"

Solomon smiled at him, "Do you remember? When I first gave you the Millennium Puzzle, you were so excited about the thought that you might solve it while many others had failed, and while it took you a few years, in the end you managed to solve it".

Yami and Yugi both looked down at the Millennium Puzzle around Yami's neck, they both knew that Solomon was right, despite how difficult it had been, Yugi had never given up on solving the puzzle and in the end, he had completed it.

Solomon spoke, "And just like the Millennium Puzzle, there exist a puzzle inside of the game of Duel Monsters that no one has managed to put together, but Yugi, you have access to all the pieces, and if you manage to gather them all, then you can win this". Solomon's spirit disappeared.

Yami and Yugi looked at the cards in Yami's hand, then both of them gasped in shock and Yugi looked at Yami, _"These Forbidden One cards, do you think… could it really be… those cards?"_ Yami could hear the disbelief in Yugi's voice and it was understandable, but it was the only possibility.

" _It must be it Yugi, these cards, they must be the legendary Exodia cards"._ Yugi gasped in shock, a while after his grandfather had started teaching him about the game, his grandfather had told him about an unbeatable monster called Exodia the Forbidden One, the only problem was that his body was split into five pieces, and the only way to summon him was to gather all five pieces in your hand, which would give you an automatic victory.

Yami looked at the three Forbidden One cards in his hand, he had both the arms and the left leg of the Forbidden One, and if it was the legendary Exodia cards, if he managed to gather all five of them, he could defeat Kaiba and win back his grandfather's Blue-Eyes.

Kaiba looked at Yugi with an impatient expression on his face, "What are you waiting for? Just end your turn Yugi or just surrender!" He was getting tired of waiting for Yami to finish his turn since he wanted to crush Yugi as soon as possible now that he had gotten Blue-Eyes on the field.

Yami looked at him, "I'll never surrender Kaiba, especially not against someone like you! I end my turn".

Kaiba placed his fingers on his deck, "Finally, I draw". He drew his next card, "Now I sacrifice my Peten the Dark Clown to summon Swordstalker in attack mode". Peten disappeared and a purple fiendish warrior with a large yellow sword appeared on the field, Atk: 2000. Kaiba closed his eyes with a smirk, "And with that, I end my turn, make your move Yugi".

Yami placed his fingers on his deck, "I'll draw". He drew his next card and gasped in shock when he saw that it was the Right Leg of the Forbidden One, he now had four of the five Exodia cards in his hand.

Yami narrowed his eyes and then looked at Kaiba while he placed the right leg in his hand, "I'll end my turn Kaiba". He could feel his heart beat fast in his chest, he just needed to draw the last Exodia card in order to win.

Kaiba placed his fingers on his deck with a smirk on his face, "So you couldn't draw something that could help you huh Yugi? Well I didn't really think you would".

Kaiba then drew his next card and looked at it, he then got a smirk on his face and looked at Yami, "Well Yugi, time to ensure my victory completely".

Kaiba held up the card he had just drawn, "Now if Keeper of the Shrine is sacrificed in order to summon a dragon type monster, he can be treated as two sacrifices".

Yami widened his eyes in shock when he heard that, "A dragon that needs two sacrifices? It can't be…" His face was now covered in sweat since if his suspicion was correct, then he would be in trouble.

"Now I sacrifice Keeper of the Shrine…" Keeper of the Shrine disappeared, "So I can summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Then a third Blue-Eyes appeared on Kaiba's field and let out a mighty roar, Atk: 3000.

Kaiba laughed as he saw the expression on Yami's face, "That's right Yugi, be afraid, nothing in that pathetic deck can defeat my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, your grandfather couldn't do it, and you won't either, I end my turn".

Joey looked at Yami with a serious expression on his face, "Don't give up Yugi! You can still turn this around". He had faith that Yugi would be able to win, however even a rookie like him could tell that the odds were bad right now for Yami.

Yami looked at his deck, _The only way I can win now is if I draw the final piece of Exodia, but will I be able to do it in time? I mean the Swords of Revealing Light will disappear when Kaiba's next turn ends, and if he draws something that can defeat my Obnoxious Celtic Guard, then I'm done for_. Yami thought to himself while he placed his fingers on his deck.

Yami drew his next card and gritted his teeth when he saw that it was a spell card called Wonder Wand, _This spell card can only be equipped to a spellcaster monster in order to give it 500 attack points, also if I sacrifice the monster equipped with this card, I get to draw two cards, it could've been a great card to use right now, however since I don't have any spellcasters in my hand that I can use, it won't help me now_ , Yami thought to himself troubled.

Yami placed Wonder Wand in his hand, "I… I end my turn now".

Kaiba just looked at Yami with a smirk and placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it, he then laughed like a maniac before he looked at Yami, "This card I just drew will ensure my victory on my next turn".

Yami got a worried expression on his face when he heard that and then saw how Kaiba turned the card around and it was a spell card with the image of Blue-Eyes charging up an attack.

"I activate the spell card Burst Stream of Destruction! I can only use this if I have a Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field, now this card will destroy every monster on your field, of course the drawback is that I can't attack with my dragons but with your swords of light I couldn't anyway".

One of the Blue-Eyes on Kaiba's field charged up an attack and fired it at Obnoxious Celtic Guard and destroyed him. Kaiba's smirk grew bigger when he saw the worried expression on Yami's face, "Now I end my turn, which means that your swords of light have expired". The Swords of Revealing Light then disappeared and the three Blue-Eyes roared at Yami.

Kaiba pointed at Yami, "Well, what do you say Yugi? How is your faith now? In my next turn, all three of my Blue-Eyes will be able to attack you, this match is over, but if you wish to struggle in vain, then draw your next card".

Yami looked at his hand while the sweat was running down his face, _This is the last chance I have, I need to draw the fifth piece of Exodia this turn if I'm going to defeat Kaiba, but the odds are against me, can I really do this?_ Yami thought to himself while his heart was beating like crazy in his chest because of the fear he was feeling while he reached out with his hand towards his deck.

However, it felt like the deck was moving away from him, Yami's eyes widened in shock, _The deck, it's sensing my fear and my doubt, it knows that my faith is wavering_.

However Yami then let out a shocked gasp when he saw the piece of the smiley on the back of his hand, "Our friendship symbol!"

Yugi then pointed towards the deck, _"Yami, look"_. Yami looked forward and his eyes widened in shock when he saw spirits of Tea, Tristan and Joey standing with their hands with the other pieces of the smiley over the deck while all three of them looked at him.

Tea gave him a kind smile, "We're always here by your side Yugi". Tristan nodded his head, "Yeah so believe in yourself and your cards Yugi".

Joey then held up his left hand and gave him a thumbs up, "You got this, kick Kaiba's ass".

Yami got a smile on his face as he once again reached out towards his deck and placed his fingers on his deck, "They're right, we need to believe in our cards like our friends believe in us".

Yami then looked at Yugi, _"Let's win this together partner"_. Yugi got a smile on his face when he heard that the confidence had returned to Yami's voice and nodded his head. Yugi then placed his spirit hand over Yami's and the two of them drew their final card together and looked at it.

Kaiba chuckled, "Play your last pathetic card so I can end this Yugi".

However he got shocked when he saw the confident smirk on Yami's face, "My grandpa's deck have no pathetic cards Kaiba, but it does contain…" Yami turned the card he had just drawn and it was a large orange monster, "The unstoppable Exodia!"

Kaiba got a shocked and horrified expression on his face, "What the… impossible!"

Yami then placed the legs, the arms and the head on the display table in front of him, "I have gathered all five of the cards, all five pieces of the puzzle, now appear before us, Exodia the Forbidden One!"

A green hexagram appeared on Yami's field and Exodia then appeared out of the hexagram and towered over the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons that roared at him, Atk: ∞ (infinite).

Kaiba took a step backwards in shock and fear, "No way, that's Exodia, it's not possible, no one has ever been able to summon him!"

Exodia then began to gather energy in his hands, "Exodia, Obliterate!" Yami exclaimed before Exodia unleashed a blast that destroyed all three of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes as well as his Swordstalker, causing Kaiba to scream in fear, Kaiba LP: 1300-0.

Kaiba was left speechless, a mixture of emotions flowing throughout him. Defeat shouldn't have been in the realm of possibility for him. He had never lost a duel until now. He clenched his teeth tightly; his blue eyes glaring daggers over at the teen with tri-colored hair.

"You know I can't accept this defeat. If I accept this defeat I might as well be dead!" he snarled.

Yami did not reply as he stared at Kaiba. He could practically see the darkness from his heart seeping through the cracks and consuming his mind. A darkness he could see was formed through years of pain and hatred. He knew if the young CEO continued on such a hateful path, it would end up destroying him in the end. But despite this, he could still see a way for the brunette to be saved. Lying deep within the darkness was a small glimmer of light that continues to burn strong. It was clear what he needed to do. He inhaled deeply as he closed his eyes.

Realizing what his spiritual companion was up to, Yugi began to object _"Wait, Yami don-"_

But he was unable to get the last words of his sentence out as he heard the familiar chant of "The door to darkness has been opened."

Kaiba's body tensed when he heard this chant. He wouldn't admit it, but the atmosphere the teen before him was giving off was unnerving. His jaw tightened when he saw Yami reopen his eyes with the glowing gold symbol of an eye appearing on his forehead. He didn't dare to speak as the silence made the atmosphere only more tense.

Finally, with the lift of his hand, Yami shouted "Mind crush!"

The last thing Kaiba experienced was intense pressure on both his mind and heart before his whole world fell into darkness. In that instant, his body slumped over his platform.

Mokuba, horrified by the scene he witnessed quickly dashed over to the controls for the platform. Once the platform was lowered, he ran over to his old brother. But once he was there, he froze at what he saw. His brother's face was frozen in shock and his wide open eyes held absolutely no life in them. Tears began to form in the child's eyes, his heart ached out of sadness. He did his best not to cry as he heard footsteps approaching him. Spinning around he could Yami standing behind him, giving him a look full of remorse.

"What did you do to my brother?!" he demanded as he struggled to fight back his tears, "Whatever you did, undo it! Bring Seto back!"

Yami remained silent, closing his purple eyes briefly with a sigh.

Choosing his words carefully, he finally replied after a few seconds "What has been done cannot be undone by me but rather your brother himself. I shattered his heart to free the light trapped within the darkness. But for him to reawaken, he must reassemble his heart himself. All you can do is watch over him till then."

Mokuba was left speechless by this response. He couldn't understand what the teen meant with his claim. But despite that, he could agree on one thing and that was he needed to watch over his brother. Pulling the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card out of his pocket, he hastily shoved it into the teen's hands.

"You got what you wanted, now don't come back here ever again." he stated in a bitter tone.

Without another word, he turned around to move his brother's body off the platform.

But before he could take a single step, he heard Yami spoke up "Mokuba, know that this decision wasn't one I was happy with. Your brother was headed on a path of destruction and this was the only way to save him. If there was another way to save him, I would have done so. I just hope in time you'll come to understand my actions."

The child didn't respond as tears started to stream down his face. He didn't want to admit it, but deep down he knew the teen with tri-color hair was right.  
Seeing his business was done, Yami relinquished his control back to Yugi. The sixteen year-old couldn't help but frown out of sympathy for the Kaiba brothers. He could only hope Kaiba could reassemble his heart quickly so Mokuba could have his brother back. Without any words, he left the stadium with a dash, fully intent on checking up on his grandfather.

 **Author's Note - So this is the end for now. But if you enjoyed what we have shown here, we'll continue this story. This is a test to see if anyone is interested in the idea of a retake on the original Yugioh series.**


	2. The guantlet is thrown

Yu-Gi-Oh! Rise of a Legend

Chapter 2

Joey and Tea was sitting across from each other at a desk while they were playing Duel Monsters, Tea thought that the game seemed a little fun, so she had asked Yugi to teach her to play, she wasn't thinking on trying to become good enough to play in tournaments, she just thought it would be something fun to do during recess.

Tristan looked at Joey who looked at his hand, "Come on Joey, you're already losing so make your move so Tea can end this". Joey glared at Tristan when he heard Tristan's mocking tone.

Joey then grabbed a card in his hand and placed it on the table and it was an alligator with armor and a sword, "I summon Alligator's Sword in attack mode", Atk: 1500.

Joey pointed at Tea's face down monster card, "Now Alligator's Sword will attack your face down monster". Joey had a confident smile on his face since most of Tea's monsters didn't have high attack or defense points.

However Tea got a smirk on her face, "Sorry Joey, but the card you attacked was Fire Sorcerer". Tea explained before she flipped her face down monster face up and it was a small girl in a black dress with a black hat, Def: 1500.

Joey gritted his teeth, since Fire Sorcerer had the same defense points as his attack, Fire Sorcerer wouldn't be destroyed.

However he then saw to his shock how Tea grabbed two of the three cards in her hand and placed them next to her graveyard, "Wait, why did you just remove two cards?" He didn't understand why Tea would remove two cards from her hand like that.

Tea looked at Joey with a smile before he explained, "It's simple Joey, you see, when Fire Sorcerer is flipped from face down to face up, by removing two cards in my hand from the game, you take 800 points of damage".

Joey's eyes widened in shock before he sighed tired and wrote down the damage, Joey LP: 1800-1000.

Joey looked at Tea with a smile, "Well, you might have inflicted some damage to me, but I can still turn this around, after all, since your Fire Sorcerer can't beat my Alligator's Sword, I end my turn now". Joey exclaimed before he ended his turn.

Tea placed her fingers on her deck, "It's my turn, I draw". She drew her next card and looked at the card. She then got a smile on her face and looked at Joey, "I'm sorry Joey, but this duel is already over".

Joey got an expression on his face that showed that he didn't believe her. Tea then placed the card she had drawn on the table and it was a spell card with the image of a hand of a monster falling through a crack in the ground, "I now activate the spell card Fissure".

Joey got a confused expression on his face, "Huh? What does Fissure do?" Joey turned his head towards Yugi after asking that since Yugi was his teacher when it came to Duel Monsters.

Yugi gave Joey a troubled smile, "I'm sorry Joey, but Tea's right, you see, Fissure targets the face up monster on your field with the lowest attack points and since you only have one…"

Yugi felt troubled as he saw the horrified expression on Joey's face before he with a depressed expression placed Alligator's Sword in his graveyard.

Yugi knew that Joey really tried to get good at dueling while Tea just wanted something fun to do during the recess, so he had tried to help Joey get better and have him face Tea some times since she would be an easier opponent, the problem was that he hadn't been able to beat her even once.

Tea then grabbed Fire Sorcerer and switched her to attack mode, Atk: 1000. She then pointed at Joey, "And now, my Fire Sorcerer will attack you directly Joey". Tea exclaimed and Joey sighed and wrote down the damage he took, Joey LP: 1000-0.

Tea then gathered her cards and placed them in to her deck again, "And that's that, I beat you once again Joey".

Tristan looked at Joey with a smirk on his face, "You suck at this game Joey". He said with a mocking tone while Joey held his head frustrated.

Later after school, Yugi was placing his books in his backpack while preparing to go home when Joey came up to him, "Hey Yugi, can I talk with you a little?"

Yugi looked at him confused but then nodded his head, "Of course Joey, does this have anything to do with the duel against Tea earlier?" He had suspected that Joey would talk to him about this, however he didn't expect it to be this soon.

Joey leaned against the desk behind him and sighed and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I can understand that I can't beat you considering how good you are, however Tea is nowhere as good as you, and yet I can't beat her, what is the problem Yugi? Why can't I win?" Joey sounded really troubled and a little desperate.

Yugi looked at him with a confused expression on his face, while he knew that Joey had wanted to get good at Duel Monsters since he learned about the game, however during the months since he and Yami defeated Kaiba, Joey had almost seemed desperate to improve his dueling skills, which made Yugi wonder if it was for a special reason other than just dueling for fun.

Yugi shook his head, _Let's not think about whatever reason he has right now, I have a feeling I know the main reason for why he can't win, but I just need to be sure_ , Yugi thought to himself since he had a feeling he already knew the main problem.

Yugi smiled at Joey and held out his hand, "I'll do what I can to help, however before that, I need to look at your deck". Joey got a confused expression on his face, however he took out his deck and handed it to Yugi.

Yugi then looked through Joey's deck, he then narrowed his eyes once he was done, "I knew it Joey, this deck doesn't contain any spell or trap cards".

Joey looked at Yugi with a smile, "Yeah, I have gathered as many warriors, beast-warriors and beasts as I could in order to make a tough deck".

Yugi shook his head and looked at Joey, "But that's the problem". Joey got confused when Yugi said that and then Yugi continued, "Remember my duel against Kaiba? We both used spell cards in order to gain the advantage in the duel, also do you remember how Tea used Fissure earlier in order to win the duel? Without spell and trap cards, your monsters are left defenseless against the opponent's spell and trap cards as well as their monsters effects".

Joey placed both of his hands on Yugi's shoulders, "Yugi! Please teach me more, please tell me what kind of spell and trap cards that could be useful to me and how to use them properly!" Joey had a determined expression on his face as he asked Yugi for more help.

Yugi got a thoughtful expression on his face before a smile appeared on his face. He put his backpack on his back and looked at Joey, "How about grandpa helps me teach you? I mean he was the one who taught me how to duel, not to mention that while we do that, we can see if we can find spell and trap cards that you like and that also works well with your deck".

Joey got a huge smile on his face, "Really? Thanks Yug!" Joey quickly grabbed his schoolbag and then the two of them walked out of the classroom.

A little while later so had Yugi and Joey gotten to the Kame Game shop. Yugi opened the door and walked with Joey behind and saw how Solomon was putting up a poster about the National Championship on the wall.

Solomon looked down the moment he heard the door open and smiled at Yugi and Joey, "Hello boys". Solomon greeted them while he got down from the ladder.

Joey smiled at Solomon, "Hello gramps, it's great to see that you're feeling better".

Solomon's smile grew bigger than before, "Thanks Joey, I'm feeling a lot better. So did you want to buy some more cards?"

Joey however shook his head and looked at Solomon, "Not today, I was hoping that you could help Yugi to teach me more about Duel Monsters". Solomon got a confused expression on his face when he heard that and looked at Yugi.

Yugi shrugged his shoulders with a troubled smile and decided to explain the situation, "Joey only has monster cards in his deck, which leaves him wide open for the effects of monsters, spells and traps. I thought he had learned about the importance of spell and trap cards while watching me duel, however I guess I was wrong". Solomon chuckled after he heard that.

Yugi then looked at Joey, "But Joey, why are you so determined to improve your skills all of a sudden?" Yugi was sure he already knew the reason, but decided to see if he was right.

Joey got a troubled expression on his face when he heard Yugi's question, "Well, because…" Joey hesitated while he looked up at the poster for the National Championship.

Solomon and Yugi looked at the poster before they looked at Joey again, "Don't tell me you're thinking about entering the National Championship and claim the championship?" Solomon asked Joey with a serious tone in his voice.

Joey got a troubled expression on his face and turned his face to the side, "N-no, of course not". Joey tried to deny it with a nervous voice. However Yugi could see that his guess had been right.

Solomon stared at Joey with a serious expression on his face, "Could it be that you just want to win the 3 000 000 yen prize money?" Joey got an even more troubled expression on his face, meaning that Solomon had hit the nail on the head.

Yugi looked at Joey, "I figured that that were the reason for your sudden desire to get better quickly, even so it won't be possible to improve that much in time". Yugi felt bad as he said that since he knew about Joey's money situation.

Joey fell down on his knees and bowed to Yugi, "Please Yugi, I really wanna and get the prize money, please!"

Yugi got a troubled expression on his face when he heard the desperation on Joey's voice as he begged him, "Joey, I do know about the situation with your father and money, and I would do anything to help you in order to win, but they'll start picking duelists within a month so we won't have that much time to improve your skills and there will be a lot of people with great dueling skills in that tournament".

Solomon looked at Yugi with a confused expression on his face, "What do you mean by his situation with his father and money?" He saw how Yugi got stiff before he looked at him with an expression that meant that he had said something he shouldn't had.

"Grandpa, I don't think I should talk about his situation, I mean…"

Joey held up his hand to silence Yugi, "Yug, it's okay, I appreciate that you're thinking about my feelings, but I don't mind". Joey said with a serious voice as he got up on his feet again and saw how Solomon looked at him with a concerned expression on his face.

Joey closed his eyes and sighed before he looked at the ceiling, "The reason I need the money is because my dad is a workless alcoholic and gambler, he has gathered a large debt. I have been forced to take different part time jobs in order to try and pay off my old man's debt, as well as paying for my education and to have some pocket money. However I always need to hide the money that I don't use right away or else he would just buy alcohol or gamble it away". Joey said with a low, sad tone in his voice.

Solomon looked at Yugi who had a guilty expression on his face. Solomon knew that his grandson was feeling guilty for accidently mentioning Joey's money situation since it was clear that it was a sensitive topic for Joey.

Solomon narrowed his eyes as he made his decision. He looked at Joey, "Alright Joey, I will help Yugi to make you ready for the National Championship". Joey looked at him shocked when he heard that while Yugi looked at his grandfather with a huge smile on his face.

Solomon then said with a serious expression on his face, "However, I will make this clear now, for me and Yugi, dueling is more than just winning fame and money. I taught him to believe in his deck and the heart that resides within it, because if you do, then your deck will surely answer you".

Solomon looked at Joey straight in to his eyes, "Are you ready to follow our instructions and to try and learn our philosophy?"

Joey nodded his head, "I promise! I'm not the best student in the world, but I'll do my best, I promise gramps".

Solomon got a smile on his face when he heard the determination in Joey's voice, "That's good, now then, let's look through your deck and then we will teach you all the rules". He looked at Yugi and saw how he nodded his head while Joey took out his deck and handed it to Solomon who took it and looked through it.

A few weeks later, Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Tea sat in front of the TV in the living room inside of the Kame Game shop. The finals of the National Championship was about to begin and the two competitors was the fourteen year old Weevil Underwood and the fifteen year old Rex Raptor.

Joey sat next to Yugi on the couch and sighed irritated, "Damn it, I should be one of the finalists".

Tea looked at Joey and gave him a kind smile, "It's too bad that you got knocked out of the championship, however you did get to the top 8 right?"

Joey got a proud expression on his face, "Yeah, I guess your right Tea, I did pretty good considering this was my first competition".

Yugi looked at him with a smile, "Well, you did a lot of intense training during this past month after all". Joey got a troubled smile on his face and nodded his head, he remembered the harsh training Solomon and Yugi had put him through.

However Tristan then remarked with a mocking tone, "However, it was only the top 8 of your own neighborhood, correct?" Joey got a troubled expression on his face when he heard that while Yugi and Tea got troubled smiles on their faces.

Joey then sighed and lowered his head depressed, "How am I supposed to face gramps now? He spent so much training me and yet I didn't even become the best in my own neighborhood". Joey had felt that he let Solomon down by not advancing further in the championship.

Solomon entered the room while carrying a package in his hands, "Why are you looking so depressed Joey?" Everyone quickly turned towards him and Joey got a troubled expression on his face.

Solomon smiled at Joey, "You don't need to think that you've disappointed me, I knew right away that we wouldn't be able improve your skills enough to win the tournament, however you did your best to the very end, and I'm proud of you for that". Joey got a shocked expression on his face when he heard that before he got a happy smile on his face.

"Thanks gramps, I promise that I will continue improving my skills, I will not let the time you spent training me go to waste". Joey said with a determined tone in his voice.

Solomon nodded his head with a proud expression on his face before he walked over to Yugi, "By the way Yugi, this package just arrived for you".

Yugi looked at him shocked when he heard that. He took the package and looked to see who the sender was. He narrowed his eyes, "It doesn't say who it is from". He wondered who would send him a package anonymously.

Joey looked at Yugi, "By the way, why didn't you enter the tournament Yugi? If you had then you could've won the whole thing". Joey had been wondering that since Yugi said that he wouldn't compete in the tournament.

Yugi looked at Joey with a serious expression on his face, "I didn't want to get in your way Joey". Joey looked at him confused and Yugi continued with a smile, "I knew that you hadn't gotten enough training and that you hadn't mastered your new deck completely, but I wanted to give you a chance, since facing more experienced opponent can help you improve just as much as training can".

Joey got a grateful expression on his face, "Thanks Yug". He appreciated that Yugi had decided to give him a chance.

Yugi then looked down on the package with a serious expression on his face, "Also, I decided to not enter an official competition unless that person is in it". Joey narrowed his eyes since he had an idea who Yugi were talking about.

Tea looked at Yugi, "You're talking about Kaiba right?" Yugi had told them about the duel and how intense it had been, she was feeling conflicted since no one liked Kaiba as a person after what he did, however Yugi respected him as a duelist.

Yugi nodded his head, "Yeah, after he wakes up from his coma, I want to face him in a real duel after he has learned to trust his deck and believe in the heart of the cards".

Joey sighed and placed a hand on his forehead, "I just can't bring myself to trust him or even respect him as a duelist no matter if he was the world champion, not after what he did".

Yugi looked at Joey. Some week after the duel against Kaiba, they learned that Kaiba was the undefeated Duel Monsters world champion and somehow the story that Yugi had defeated them had gotten out, which Yugi later realized was natural since Kaiba was the world champ.

Solomon looked at Yugi with a curious expression on his face, "So how is it going with the new deck Yugi?" Yugi looked over his shoulder at his grandfather.

"It's going fine, I think it's ready for a test run to see if it's finished". Yugi said with a smile. After the duel against Kaiba, Solomon had decided to give his deck to Yugi since he figured that he could use it better and he also suggested that Yugi should mix some of his old deck in to it as well.

Joey looked at Yugi, "By the way, didn't your gramps also give you a few new cards, including one that will really help you against that jerk Kaiba and his Blue-Eyes?"

Yugi looked at Joey and nodded his head to answer him. A few new cards had recently been released, including a warrior called Buster Blader which was an anti-dragon type card.

Another monster that was released was a Ritual monster called Magician of Chaos that could be summoned with the Ritual spell card Chaos Form. However when he first saw Chaos Form he was shocked when it mentioned both Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes. His grandfather had then told him that he had heard a rumor that a one of a kind Blue-Eyes Ritual monster would soon be made, it would have the same attack as the original, however it would also have a few good effects.

Tristan then looked at the TV, "Hey, Weevil and Rex just drew their first cards". All of them turned towards the TV after hearing Tristan's announcement.

Joey looked at Yugi, "Hey Yugi, are these two good?" He knew that they must be pretty good if they managed to get to the final match, however he wondered if Yugi knew more about their skills and tactics.

Yugi nodded his head, he had heard quite a bit about these two, "Oh yeah, both of them are really skilled duelists, Weevil's specialty is to use the effects of traps, spells and the special effects of his insects to outsmart his opponent while Rex usually overwhelm his opponent's with the power of his dinosaurs".

Joey looked at the TV with a smirk on his face, "Tiny insects against mighty dinosaurs? It's pretty obvious that the dinosaurs have the advantage". Joey was completely sure that Rex had this match in the bag. However Yugi wasn't as sure as him.

They watched the duel between Rex and Weevil and saw how both of them took turns outsmart each other and a while later both of them had less than 1000 life points left.

Weevil only had a face down card on his field while Rex had a dinosaur that looked like a black brachiosaurus called Black Brachios with 1800 attack points.

Rex placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now, I draw!" He drew his next card and he got a smirk on his face, "Alright, time to finish this. Now I sacrifice my Black Brachios in order to summon my Jurrac Herra in attack mode!" Black Brachios then disappeared and got replaced by a large green and yellow herrerasaurus with cannons on its shoulders, Atk: 2300.

Joey had a smirk on his face when he saw this, "I knew it, Rex will win this duel".

However Yugi shook his head, "No, he has already fallen in to Weevil's trap".

Rex pointed at Weevil with a smirk on his face, "Alright, this is the end Weevil, now Jurrac Herra, att…" However he stopped shocked when he suddenly saw chains fly towards Jurrac Herra and wrap themselves around him, Atk: 2300-1600.

Rex looked at Weevil and his eyes widened when he saw that a trap card with an image of chains on it, "You're kidding! Your face down card was Shadow Spell?!"

Weevil chuckled, "That's correct, now thanks to Shadow Spell, Jurrac Herra can't attack or change his battle position and he's also 700 points weaker". Rex gritted his teeth in frustration when he heard the satisfied tone in Weevil's voice.

Rex closed his eyes and growled before he said with a low voice, "I end my turn".

Weevil placed his fingers on his deck, "Alright, then I guess it's time for me to end this". He drew his next card and looked at it and a smirk appeared on his face.

"I'll start by summoning Armored Bee in attack mode". A metallic looking bee then appeared on the field, Atk: 1600.

Weevil then grabbed another card in his hand and revealed it and it was a spell card with an image of a cannon attached to shoulder armor, "And next, I equip him with Insect Armor with Laser Cannon spell card".

The cannon then appeared behind Armored Bee's head while the shoulder armor appeared on its shoulders, Atk: 1600-2300.

Rex narrowed his eyes, "Even if you attack me now you won't be able to finish me off, which means I can turn this around next turn".

Weevil chuckled when he heard Rex say that, "Actually, this duel is already, you see once per turn, Armored Bee can cut the attack points of one of your monsters in half until the end phase". Weevil said with a smirk on his face while Rex's eyes widened in shock.

Armored Bee then aimed his stinger at Jurrac Herra and fired it at him and got stuck in his left arm, Jurrac Herra, Atk: 1600-800.

Weevil then pointed at Jurrac Herra, "Alright, Armored Bee, attack his Jurrac Herra now!" Armored Bee aimed his cannon at Jurrac Herra and fired a yellow beam towards him that hit him in the chest and destroyed him.

Rex closed his eyes and growled, "I can't believe it". Rex LP: 800-0.

The announcer then spoke in to his mike, "A surprising victory for Weevil Underworld, our new National Champion!" The platforms got lowered while Weevil held up his deck with a confident smirk on his face.

Joey looked shocked, "I can't believe it, Weevil actually won the duel". He had been sure that Rex would win.

Yugi looked at him, "Now you see how just one trap card can help you turn the duel around right Joey?" Joey nodded his head, he had seen it a few times during the tournament as well.

They then heard the announcer speak again, "And next, the creator of Duel Monsters will hand over the tournament trophy personally! Ladies and gentlemen, duelist of all ages, allow me to introduce Maximillion Pegasus!"

A platform opened up in the floor and a man in a red suit with long white hair that covered his left eye with a large golden trophy in his hands.

Pegasus then walked over to Weevil and leaned down towards the smaller boy, "Congratulations Weevil". He said with a smile as he held out the trophy towards Weevil.

Weevil had a nervous expression on his face as he took the trophy, "Um… thanks Mr Pegasus, it's an honor to meet you".

Pegasus smiled at him, "And as the winner of the tournament, you as well the second place and third place will be invited to participate in a new tournament that will be sponsored by my company, Industrial Illusion!" Weevil got a shocked expression on his face before a huge smile appeared on it while the audience cheered.

A while later Pegasus was sitting in his limo with one of his men sitting next to him. The man next to him had a smile on his face, "Mr Pegasus, a lot of skillful duelists will be joining the Duelist Kingdom tournament thanks to that announcement you did".

Pegasus had his only visible eye closed with a smile on his face, "I'm not really interested in any of the competitors other than just one, which reminds me, did you do as I asked?"

The man next to him nodded his head, "Of course, I mailed the package to that Muto boy like you told me to do".

Pegasus chuckled and opened his eye, "Excellent, everything is going according to plan". The man next to him looked at him confused but decided it was best to not ask too much.

After turning off the TV, Solomon turned towards Yugi, "Yugi, I'm dying to see what's in the package you got earlier".

Yugi looked at the box he had placed next to him on the couch, "Of that's right!" He had been so focused on the final that he had actually forgotten about it.

He placed the box on the floor and opened it while everyone gathered around him to see what's in it. Everyone got shocked when they saw two star shaped chips in the box as well as a red glow with a ring with ten star shaped holes in it.

Joey looked at Yugi confused, "What's up with the glow and the stars?" Yugi shrugged his shoulders since he didn't have a clue about it either.

Tristan then noticed a video tape and picked it up, "There might be an explanation on this tape". He held out it towards Yugi who nodded his head before he grabbed the tape and walked over to VCR and put it in to it.

Everyone gathered around the TV while they waited and then suddenly so did an image of a Maximillion Pegasus with a smile on his face appeared on the TV, "Good evening Yugi boy, my name is Maximillion Pegasus".

Everyone gasped in shock when they saw this since it meant that Pegasus had sent the package, Solomon narrowed his eyes, "Why would the famous Maximillion Pegasus send a video message for my grandson Yugi? Could this be an invitation to that tournament he mentioned earlier?" Yugi looked at his grandfather shocked before he turned back to the TV just as Pegasus started talking again.

"I've heard a lot of interesting things about you Yugi boy". Yugi got a confused expression on his face, however Pegasus quickly answered his unasked question, "I've heard that you managed to defeat Kaiba boy, which made me so interested that I decided to personally test your skills".

Pegasus then held up his right index finger and added with a smile, "However, this duel will have a time limit of 15 minutes, we will both begin with 4000 life points and the winner will be the one with the most life points once the time is over".

Yugi got a confused and shocked expression on his face while Joey raised an eyebrow, "He can't seriously believe that you're going to duel against a video tape right?" Joey thought the idea of dueling against a recording of someone was ridicules.

Tristan nodded his head while he narrowed his eyes, "He must be crazy or something. There is no way that's possible".

Pegasus chuckled as if he could hear them. His hear covering his left eye then slightly parted and Yugi noticed something golden underneath it before he suddenly felt a familiar chilling feeling and looked around himself and noticed how the room had suddenly gotten dark and saw to his shock that his friends and grandfather had gotten frozen in time.

Yugi turned towards them with a worried expression on his face, "Grandpa, guys! Can you hear me?" However he didn't get a response, in fact, he had a feeling that they couldn't even hear him.

He then heard Pegasus chuckled before he spoke again with an amused tone, "Don't worry Yugi boy, they're quite safe, however I decided that this way, there won' be any distractions during our duel".

Yugi turned back towards the TV with serious expression on his face, "A Shadow Game!"

Yami appeared next to Yugi in spirit form, _"Yugi, you should let me face him"_. He however got shocked when he saw how Yugi shook his head.

Yugi looked at Yami, _"Sorry Yami, but let me deal with this on my own, please"._ Yugi looked at Yami with a determined look in his eyes. Yami closed his eyes for a second before he spoke, _"Alright, I'll leave this to you Yugi, however if I feel that you're in danger then I'll take over, okay?"_

Yugi smiled at him and slightly nodded his head before he grabbed his dueling mat which he had left in the living room since his last practice match against Joey for the National Championship.

Yugi placed it in front of the TV and looked at Pegasus with a determined expression on his face while he placed down his deck on it, "Alright, start the clock and let's begin Pegasus".

Pegasus chuckled, "Of course, let's do this". He placed his deck on his dueling mat and then 15 minutes appeared on the VCR and started counting down.

Both Pegasus and Yugi drew their first five cards and Pegasus then placed his fingers on his deck, "I'll go first". He drew his next card and looked at it, he then grabbed another card in his hand, "I'll place two cards face down". He placed two cards face down on the field with a smile.

Pegasus then grabbed another card in his hand, "And then I end my turn by placing a monster face down in defense mode". He then placed a monster face down in defense mode.

Pegasus then looked at Yugi and chuckled, "Alright, it's your turn now Yugi boy, show me those skills that managed to defeat Kaiba boy".

Yugi placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn". He drew his sixth card and looked at it before he placed it in his hand and grabbed another card, "Since you control a monster and I don't…"

Pegasus however interrupted him here, "You can special summon Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight from your hand, correct?" His smile grew bigger when he saw Yugi's shocked expression.

Pegasus chuckled as he continued, "And not only that, after that you planned to summon another monster before you would equip Lord Gaia with Mage Power".

Yugi got a troubled looked on his face before he placed Lord Gaia on field, "I don't know how you knew that I planned on summoning him, but yeah, I special summon Lord Gaia in attack mode". A knight in purple armor with a cape and two red lances appeared riding on a dragon, Atk: 2300.

Pegasus chuckled as he grabbed one of his face down card and flipped it face up and it was a trap card with a image of a green monster fell in to hole, "I activate the trap card Bottomless Trap Hole. Now since you summoned a monster with at least 1500 attack points, I can destroy that monster and then remove it from the game".

Lord Gaia screamed while his dragon roared as they got sucked in to a hole that appeared underneath them. Yugi gritted his teeth and placed Lord Gaia next to his graveyard.

Yugi then grabbed another card in his hand, "Alright, then I'll summon Komori Dragon in attack mode". A purple dragon then appeared in front of Yugi and let out a roar, Atk: 1500.

Pegasus chuckled while he grabbed his face down card, "I knew that you would summon Komori Dragon as well, which is why my face down card is Dragon Capture Jar".

Yugi got a shocked expression on his face when he heard that and then saw how a large jar with a dragon's face on it appeared on the field. The eyes on the jar glowed red for a second before Komori Dragon growled and lowered his head, Def: 1200.

Pegasus's smile grew bigger, "As long as this card is on the field, all face up dragon type monsters on the field is forced in to defense mode, no matter how powerful, even the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon is powerless against this card".

Yugi narrowed his eyes before he looked at his hand, "I end my turn". He didn't have any cards that could use him right now.

Pegasus chuckled while he drew his next card, "I see that you decided to not use Mage Power now since not only was Lord Gaia destroyed, but Komori Dragon was also forced in to defense mode".

Yugi narrowed his eyes and looked at Mage Power in his hand, _How does he know what I'm going to do before I do it?_ Yugi knew that Pegasus was somehow using Shadow Magic to duel him right now, however that didn't explain how he could know what was in his hand.

Pegasus looked at the card he had drawn and a smirk appeared on his face. He then grabbed his face down monster and flipped it face up, "I now change my Dragon Piper from defense to attack mode". A small jar creature with a smile on it's stomach and a flute appeared on the field, Atk: 200.

Pegasus then held up his Dragon Capture Jar, "Since I just flipped Dragon Piper face up, all face up Dragon Capture Jar trap cards are destroyed and all face up dragons are changed back in to attack mode". Pegasus put his Dragon Capture Jar in his graveyard and Komori Dragon lifted his head and roared, Atk: 1500.

Yugi got a confused expression on his face, "Why would you destroy your own trap card like that?" He couldn't understand why Pegasus would do that.

Pegasus then grabbed a card in his hand with a smirk on his face and revealed a spell card with a image of a brain with two hands around it, "Now I activate the spell card Brain Control, now at the cost of 800 life points, I can gain control over one of your monsters until the end of this turn". Pegasus LP: 4000-3200.

A brain appeared on Pegasus's field and two hands then appeared next to it and flew out through the TV screen and grabbed Komori Dragon and pulled him in to the screen and put him down next to Dragon Piper.

Pegasus then grabbed one of the remaining cards in his hand, "And next, I sacrifice my Dragon Piper and your Komori Dragon to summon Ryu-Ran in attack mode". A large egg with blue spots on it appeared on the field. Red legs then appeared out of the bottom of it before a crack appeared across the middle before the upper body of a red dragon with small wings appeared of the egg, Atk: 2200.

Pegasus then pointed at Yugi who had a worried expression on his face, "And since you have no monsters on your field, I can attack you directly, now Ryu-Ran, Fire Stream attack". Ryu-Ran inhaled and then opened his mouth and unleashed a stream of fire from each corner of his mouth towards Yugi.

Yugi shielded himself as the fire hit him and he groaned in pain as he felt the heat of the fire, Yugi LP: 4000-1800.

Yami appeared next to Yugi with a worried expression on his face, _"Yugi! Are you okay?"_ The concern was in his voice was clear. Yugi looked at him with a determined look in his eyes, _"I'm okay Yami, don't worry, I can still fight"._ Yugi answered Yami with calm voice.

Pegasus then grabbed one of the remaining two cards in his hand and placed it face down, "And next, I end my turn with one card face down.

Pegasus looked at Yugi with a smile on his face, "Yugi boy, you must be really shocked right now, but this is the reality, you won't be able to beat me, and if you lose then you'll have to participate in my upcoming event".

Yugi got shocked when he heard that, Pegasus then continued, "It's a tournament meant to determine who the True king of Games in the game of Duel Monsters is".

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "The King of Games?" While he thought it sounded interesting, he didn't really care much about titles.

Pegasus nodded his head with a smile, "That's right, the winner will receive the title of King of Games as well as great fortune".

Yugi closed his eyes and sighed, "Sorry to tell you this Pegasus, but I don't really care about winning titles or money". He then opened his eyes and continued, "So I'm afraid that I have to decline your offer".

Pegasus shook his head, "No no, you don't have the rights to decline, since you can't defeat me, you're going to be a part of my tournament".

Yugi narrowed his eyes when he heard Pegasus say that with certainly, "This duel is not over yet Pegasus".

Pegasus chuckled, "I like your determination, very well Yugi boy, let's continue with our duel, it's your move so let's see what you can do".

Yugi gritted his teeth, _How does he know what cards I have in my hand? There must be some kind of trick behind it_. Yugi thought to himself. At that moment Pegasus pulled his hair to the side a little and a golden eye got revealed and the image of a monster appeared in it and then it appeared in Yugi's eye as well.

Yugi looked at his hand with a troubled look on his face. he currently had a Indian warrior with a large shield called Big Shield Gardna and a warrior with yellow hair in blue and white armor with a large sword called Silent Swordsman.

 _If I summon Big Shield Gardna I can sacrifice him to special summon Silent Swordsman, then if I equip him with Mage Power and place Wonder Wand face down, he will have 2000 attack and defense, and then during Pegasus's next standby phase, he'll gain 500 more attack points which will make him too powerful for Ryu-Ran, and then during my standby phase he will gain another 500, which will means he will have 3000 attack points,_ Yugi thought to himself while he looked at Silent Swordsman who was his best chance of turning things around.

He then looked at his deck, _Of course, if I draw another spell or trap card, Silent Swordsman will strong enough to take down Ryu-Ran right now,_ Yugi thought to himself as he placed his fingers on his deck.

However he then heard Yami's voice, _"Yugi, wait!"_ Yugi stopped himself just as he was about to draw his next card and looked at Yami who had a cautious expression on his face, _"What's wrong Yami?"_

Yami looked at him before he turned towards the TV again, _"Take a look at Pegasus"_. Yugi looked at him confused before he turned towards the TV and got shocked when he saw that Pegasus was smiling with a knowing smile on his face.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, _"He knows that I'm planning on summoning Silent Swordsman"._ Yami nodded his head and narrowed his eyes, _"That's right and I think I know how, I think he's been using his eye to implant a message in our subconscious"._ Yami explained his theory while he narrowed his eyes.

Yugi turned his eyes to him slightly, _"You mean every move I have done he has made me do? But he still needs to know what cards I'm holding in order to do that"._

Yami nodded his head, _"That's true, anyway, I think our best hope right now is to rely on the card you're about to draw since that's the only card Pegasus won't know about"._ Yugi nodded his head, he knew that it was risky, however just like Yami said, it was their only option right now.

Yugi looked at Pegasus, "It's my turn, I draw". Yugi, placing all of his faith in his deck, drew his next card, "Alright Pegasus, I know you somehow can see the cards in my hand, which means I betting everything on this card, so let's see what it is!"

Yugi placed the card he had drawn on the dueling mat in front of him and Maha Vailo appeared in front of him, Atk: 1550. Pegasus narrowed his eye when he saw the spellcaster, since he was normal summoned, his Grand Horn of Heaven couldn't destroy him.

Yugi with a smirk on his face grabbed two cards in his hand, "And next, I equip Maha Vailo with both Mage Power and Wonder Wand! First Wonder Wand increases his attack points by 500, then he'll gain 1000 attack and defense points thanks to Mage Power, and finally thanks to his own ability, he'll gain another 1000 attack points thanks to the two equip spells".

The Wonder Wand appeared in Maha Vailo's hand, Atk & Def: 1550-4050/1400-2400. Yugi then pointed at Ryu-Ran, "Now, Maha Vailo, attack his Ryu-Ran with Sacred Lightning!"

Maha Vailo held up his hands in the air and a lightning strike came down and hit the wand, Maha Vailo then pointed the wand at Ryu-Ran and unleashed a stream of electricity towards him.

The dragon roared in pain as the electricity went through his entire body before he got destroyed while Pegasus shielded his face, Pegasus LP: 3200-1350.

Pegasus lowered his arm and looked at Yugi with a smirk on his face while he chuckled, "Nicely done! Not only did you damage my life points, but since you also figured out the secret behind my power, you've passed the test".

Yugi and Yami got shocked expressions on their faces when they heard that, however Pegasus continued, "However, you underestimate my power, well it's understandable since you've only seen a fraction of it". Yugi and Yami narrowed their eyes troubled, what other kind of powers and tricks did Pegasus possess?

Yugi looked at the timer, they had less than 5 minutes left on the timer now. If Yugi simply stalled for time until the timer ran out, he would win the duel since he would the most life points left, however as a duelist, he couldn't accept winning that way and decided to win by continue with the duel until the timer ran out.

Yugi looked at Pegasus, "Alright, my turn is over, so show me what you got Pegasus". Yugi narrowed his eyes as he looked at Pegasus, he only had one card left in his hand and right now Yugi have his Maha Vailo with over 4000 attack points on his field. Pegasus would need a miracle in order to turn this duel around now.

Pegasus placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card, his eye widened in surprise, "Unbelievable! What a lucky draw". Yugi got a troubled expression on his face when he heard that, he wondered what kind of card Pegasus had just drawn.

Pegasus turned the card around and it was a spell card with an image of a purple evil spirit coming out of the back of a warrior, "I equip your Maha Vailo with the equip spell card Pestilence! I can only equip this card to a warrior, beast-warrior or spellcaster monster. I'm sorry to tell you this Yugi boy, but now thanks to this card, Maha Vailo will lose all of his attack points". Pegasus explained as he placed the spell card in the dueling mat in front of him.

Yugi's eyes widened in shock and horror, he then saw how Maha Vailo went down on a knee while the evil spirit came out of his back, Atk: 4050-0. Yugi felt how sweat started to form on his forehead, since his Maha Vailo now had 0 attack points, he was sure that pretty much anything in Pegasus's deck could defeat him, and he was sure that the last card in Pegasus's hand was a monster.

Pegasus grabbed the last card in his hand, "And next, I summon my Dark Rabbit in attack mode". A black rabbit appeared on the field, it had armor on the upper part of its body as well as a small sword on its left hip, Atk: 1100.

Pegasus then pointed at Maha Vailo, "Alright Dark Rabbit, attack his Maha Vailo now". Dark Rabbit jumped through the TV screen and then ran towards Maha Vailo before he began bombard him with punches, destroying him forcing Yugi to shield his face, Yugi LP: 1800-700.

Yugi gritted his teeth, now he had the lowest life points. Pegasus chuckled, "I end my turn, and since the time is just about over and I have the most life points, I guess I'm the winner". Yugi looked at the timer and saw that it had just passed the 1 minute line.

Yugi gritted his teeth and looked at Pegasus, "The time is not over Pegasus, I'll fight to the end". Yugi drew his next card and looked at it. Yugi grabbed a card in his hand, "I summon Big Shield Gardna in attack mode!" Big Shield Gardna appeared holding his shield at his side, Atk: 100.

Yugi then turned around the card he had just drawn and it was a spell card with a image of a shield, "Next I equip him with Magnum Shield, when this is equipped to a warrior, based on the mode it's in, it gain points based the original points of its other mode, which means that Big Shield Gardna now gains 2600 attack points". Big Shield Gardna's shield disappeared and got replaced by the Magnum Shield, Atk: 100-2700.

Pegasus gritted his teeth when he saw this since Big Shield Gardna now had enough power to end this now if his attack made contact with Dark Rabbit in time.

Yugi pointed at Dark Rabbit, "Now Big Shield Gardna, attack Dark Rabbit". Big Shield Gardna ran towards Dark Rabbit that came out of the TV screen while he lifted his arm that the Magnum Shield was attached before he swung the shield at Dark Rabbit. However right before he could slam it in to him so did both of them disappear. Yugi gritted his teeth when he saw that the timer had run out.

Pegasus closed his eye and chuckled, "Oh well, I guess the time is up, and man was that close, if you had succeeded with that attack, I would've lost, but I didn't". Yugi narrowed his eyes as Pegasus spoke with a satisfied tone in his voice.

Pegasus opened his eye and looked at Yugi with a smirk on his face, "Yugi boy, you're far more skilled than I originally anticipated, I have a strong feeling that we will end up dueling each other again in Duelist Kingdom".

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "What if I decided not to enter the tournament?"

Pegasus waved with his right index finger while he chuckled, "I told you, since you lost, you won't be able to get away from me". He then pulled his side and Yugi gasped when he saw a golden eye that looked like the eye on his puzzle where his left eye should be.

"My Shadow magic comes from the power of my Millennium Eye". Pegasus said with a smirk on his face.

Yugi stared at him shocked, "Millennium Eye?" He had heard that other Millennium Items existed, however this was the first time he saw another item.

A bright flash of light then appeared from his Millennium Puzzle and Yami who had taken control over the body glared at Pegasus, "You wouldn't just revealed that you have a Millennium Item for no reason! What are you going to do?"

Pegasus chuckled when he heard the question, "What am I going to do? Well I'm going to force you to participate in the Duelist Kingdom tournament at the Kingdom Island, otherwise, how are you going to get back the thing you treasure the most?"

Before Yami could ask what he was talking about, a bright light came out of Pegasus's Millennium Eye and a beam shot out of it and flew towards Solomon before it entered him before it exited him and flew back in to the TV screen, causing static to appear.

Yami who had covered his face to shield it from the light lowered his arm and saw to his shock how Solomon appeared on the screen, "Grandpa!" Yami felt how his rage increased before he shouted, "What did you do Pegasus?"

Despite not being able to see him, Yami heard Pegasus's voice speak to him with a amused tone, "We'll be facing each other again Yugi boy, how are you going to win back your grandfather's soul?" Solomon then disappeared after Pegasus said that.

The spell that was put on Joey, Tristan and Tea was then broken and they could move again. All three of them got shocked when Solomon's body collapsed on the floor while Yugi in spirit form collapsed on all four while tears was appearing in his eyes while Yami looked at him with a concerned expression on his face.


	3. Journey to the Kingdom

Yu-Gi-Oh! Rise of a Legend

Chapter 3

Yugi was standing on the school's roof, looking at the sunset with a depressed expression on his face, "Grandpa is gone, and it's all my fault".

Yami appeared next to him with a serious expression on his face, _"No Yugi, you did everything you could, don't blame yourself"._ Yami had been worried about Yugi since he knew that Yugi was blaming himself for what happened to grandpa.

Yugi closed his eyes and sighed, "I bet that you would've defeated Pegasus if you had been the one to duel him". Yugi said with a depressed tone

Yami looked at him and narrowed his eyes, _"Don't say that Yugi! You did everything I would've done, so even if I had been dueling instead, the result would've been the same_ ". Yugi looked at Yami shocked, he could hear the seriousness in his voice which meant that he really meant it.

Yami looked at the sunset again, _"We will get grandpa's soul back Yugi, we will find a way to defeat Pegasus and win back grandpa's soul from him"._ Yugi smiled at him when he heard the determined tone in Yami's voice and nodded his head.

"You're right Yami, we can't just lose hope, if we work together, then we can take down anyone who stands in our way". Yami got a smile on his face, he was glad to hear that Yugi wasn't depressed anymore.

Yugi then opened his deck box and took out his deck and looked through it, it was made up by the best parts of his old deck and his grandpa's deck, plus a few new cards, including a few upgraded of a few old cards.

Yugi took out four cards and looked at them, one of them was Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight and the original version, Gaia the Fierce Knight, who was riding on a purple horse while wearing a blue and red armor with two red lances.

Yugi then looked at the other two cards, one of them was a red dragon without legs or arms, called Curse of Dragonfire, which was the upgraded form of the last card he was holding, a monster called Curse of Dragon, which looked the same except for the fact that Curse of Dragon was yellow.

Yami looked at the four cards with a smile on his face before he spoke, _"Gaia and Curse of Dragon and the upgraded versions of them that was released recently. While Gaia might be a little hard to bring out since he is a level 7 monster, there was no way we couldn't add them to the deck as well as Lord Gaia and Curse of Dragonfire"._

Yugi nodded his head with a smile before he placed them back in to his deck box and turned around, "We should get down, the others must be worried".

Yami nodded his head, _"Yeah, school ended a while ago, and while you told the others that they should go home, they probably waited for us since they are worried about you"._ Yami had a big smile on his face when he said that.

Yugi got a big smile on his face as well and nodded his head, "Yeah, I know, because they're best friends in the world". Yami nodded his head as he agreed with Yugi. Yugi then walked towards the door that led to the stairs.

At the same time, Joey and Tristan were leaning against two desks in their classroom while Tea sat in the chair at Yugi's desk and looked down at it with a troubled expression on her face, "I hope Yugi isn't too depressed".

Joey looked down at his feet while he gritted his teeth, "Me too Tea, however I can blame him for being depressed, grandpa's soul was somehow stolen, and then Yugi was getting blackmailed in to joining the Duelist Kingdom tournament if he wanted a chance to win him back".

Joey then clenched his right fist while he closed his eyes, "Gramps took his time to train me in order to try and help me get ready for the National Championship despite knowing there wasn't really enough time for it, he also didn't charge me for the cards we used to improve my deck. And now that he needs help, I can't do anything to help him".

Tristan looked at Joey with a troubled expression on his face since they could hear the pain in his voice, "We all want to help gramps Joey, and we're all equally frustrated that we're unable to do anything to help, I mean, we can't even go with Yugi to support him".

Tea nodded her head when Tristan mentioned the biggest problem, that they couldn't be there for Yugi when he was going to need their support the most.

They then heard how someone entered the classroom and saw how Yugi came towards them.

Joey looked at Yugi with a concerned expression as Yugi got up to them, "Hey Yug, how are you feeling?" He knew full well how Yugi must feel, but he felt he should ask anyway.

Yugi looked at him and saw his concerned expressed and saw that Tea and Tristan had the same kind of expression on their faces as well.

Yugi gave them a weak smile, "Well, I wouldn't say that I'm okay right now, but I'll be fine". He then grabbed his backpack and then looked at his friends once again, "Now then, should we get going?"

The others looked at each other with troubled expressions on their faces since they knew that Yugi was trying to hide the pain he was feeling right now, however they just nodded at him before Joey and Tristan grabbed their schoolbags while Tea put on her backpack before all four of them left the classroom.

Yugi looked at the others once they had gotten out of the school building, "So, what do you think about the history and math homework we got today?"

Joey got a look of despair on his face when Yugi asked them that, "Horrible! I mean, not only do we have three pages of math to do, but we also have to write a six page report for our history class as well? Do our teachers hate us?!" Tristan nodded his head with Joey with the same kind of expression on his face.

Tea giggled while Yugi smiled at his two male friends, "I know you two don't like doing homework, but it needs to be done".

Tea looked at Joey and Tristan and both of them nodded their heads slightly, agreeing with the unspoken statement. Tea then looked at Yugi, "Hi Yugi, do you want to do our homework together?" While Tea planned on working on the homework, the main reason for suggesting the idea was because she didn't want to leave Yugi alone right now.

Yugi looked at her with a smile, "Tea, I know you're mostly suggesting that right now because you're worried about me". Tea got an embarrassed expression on her face while Tristan and Joey looked away troubled.

Yugi looked at his three best friends and continued with a calm voice, "I appreciate that you guys are worried about me, but you guys don't need to worry about me, I'll get grandpa back, I don't care what kind of tricks Pegasus has prepared for me, I'll get through them all and then beat him, and then, I'll bring grandpa home".

Joey, Tristan and Tea got relieved expressions on their faces as they saw the determined glint in Yugi's eyes, they saw that his earlier depression was mostly gone now.

Yugi smiled at his friends, "We can still do our homework together at my house, by doing so, all of us to get done with them quicker". Tea looked at Tristan and Joey with a smirk while both of them had troubled expressions on their faces since they had the worst grades among the four friends and usually needed Yugi and Tea's help with homework assignments.

Joey then looked at Yugi, "Alright Yug, however go ahead with Tea, I need to go home and fix a few things and it might be good if Tristan comes with me, since my old man has been really angry at me recently since he haven't been able to find any of the money I've earned".

Tristan placed a hand on Joey's shoulder when he heard the stiff tone in his voice while Yugi and Tea looked at him with troubled expressions on their faces.

Yugi then nodded his head before he said with a concerned voice, "Alright, just be careful". Tristan and Joey nodded their heads before they made their way towards Joey's apartment while Tea and Yugi continued towards the Kame game shop.

Yugi and Tea arrived at the game shop a little while later, Yugi was just about to put the key in to the door when he noticed an envelope placed in the spring of the door.

Yugi grabbed the enveloped confused and opened it while Tea leaned down curious, trying to see what was in the enveloped. Yugi got shocked when he saw Duel Monsters cards in it.

Yugi and Tea looked at each other confused before Yugi grabbed one of the cards in the envelope and turned it around and he saw to his shock that it had an image of an island.

Yami appeared next to Yugi while he narrowed his eyes, _"This is…"_ Yugi nodded narrowed his eyes as well before he finished the sentence, "An invitation to the Kingdom". Tea looked at Yugi with a concerned expression on her face when she heard that.

A while later Yugi and Tea was sitting on the floor in Yugi's room while looking at the cards that Pegasus had sent him. Tea looked at Yugi with a troubled look on her face, "So, this tournament will really be taking place on an island".

Yugi nodded his head before he picked up a card with the image of a ship on it, "Yeah, and according to this card, the ship for the Kingdom will leave from Domino Pier 10.30 PM two days from now".

Tea looked at Yugi with a worried look in her eyes, "You really shouldn't go alone Yugi, who knows what Pegasus has planned for you". Yugi narrowed his eyes troubled, he knew that Tea was not wrong to worry, after all Pegasus wouldn't have kidnapped his grandpa's soul unless he wanted something from him, however he had no idea what Pegasus could want from him.

Yugi then looked in to Tea's eyes and she saw the determination in his eyes before he said, "I have to go Tea, I need to win my way through the Duelist Kingdom tournament in order to face Pegasus and win back my grandpa".

Tea got a sad expression on her face, she had known that Yugi would say that since he adored his grandfather and would do anything to save him. She opened her mouth to say something, however at that moment, they heard the doorbell.

Yugi quickly gathered the cards on the floor and got up with a smile on his face, "That must be Joey and Tristan, "Let's get down and let them in". Tea sighed since she knew that Yugi used this moment to end the conversation. She nodded her head and got up and both of them walked out of Yugi's room to get down to the bottom floor where the shop were.

Yugi walked over to the door in the shop and opened it, he then saw Tristan and Joey standing there. However, he knew something must have happened based on the troubled expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong guys, did something happen?" Tristan looked at Joey after hearing Yugi ask that and Joey nodded his head.

Joey then opened his bag and took out a video tape, he looked at Yugi who had a shocked expression on his face, "You see Yug, once we got to my apartment, we found this tape in the mail, do you think…?" Yugi got a troubled expression on his face since he knew what Joey wanted to ask, did he think that Pegasus had sent him the tape as well?

Tristan raised an eyebrow, "It doesn't make sense, I mean wanting you in the tournament is one thing since you're good at dueling, however Joey is still a rookie, so he wouldn't interest Pegasus at all".

Joey glared at Tristan for a few seconds for saying that before he turned towards Yugi, "Anyway, after what happened, we didn't want to look at the tape alone, so we thought we could look at it together".

Yugi nodded his head and pointed over his shoulder, "Alright let's get to the living room". He turned around and saw Tea's worried expression. He placed his hand on her right arm and gave her a calm smile before walking past her towards the living room with the other three following him.

Tristan and Tea sat in the couch while Joey placed the tape in to the VCR with Yugi next to him. Yugi then grabbed the remote for the VCR and pressed the play button while the other three was nervous.

The image of a cute girl with long brown hair appeared on the screen. She smiled at them and raised her right hand in a greeting, "Hello big brother, how are you? I have really missed you".

Tristan, Tea and Yugi looked at Joey shocked since he had never told them that he had a little sister. However Joey had a concerned expression on his face, "Serenity…" He said her name with a soft tone that the others had never heard before.

Serenity then closed her eyes on the TV with a sad expression on her face before she spoke with a heavy tone, "I had hoped that I would be able to see you one more time before… well you know, however it seems like I'm running out of time".

Yugi looked at Joey again confused and saw how he had turned pale and he had clenched his fists which was trembling, it looked like he was about to burst in to tears.

Serenity opened her eyes and tears appeared in them, "I'm sorry I won't be able to keep the promise we made of meeting again and doing all the things we planned on doing together, please take care of yourself brother and don't worry about me". The tape then ended after Serenity said that.

Yugi looked at the static on the screen for a few seconds before he turned towards Joey with a confused and wondering expression on his face, "Joey, what…"

However he got interrupted by Joey who slammed his right fist in to the floor, shocking everyone else in the room. Joey continued to slam his right his right fist in to the floor, "Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Joey screamed in anger while tears were running down his cheeks.

Tristan ran over to him and grabbed his fist right as he was about to slam it in to the floor again, "Joey, calm down and explain to us what is going on? Why haven't you ever told us about Serenity and what did she mean by that she was running out of time?"

Joey was taking deep breaths as he tried to calm down while he used his left arm to wipe away his tears. Tristan released his right arm when he felt Joey stop struggling to break his arm free.

Tea sat down next to Yugi while she looked at Joey with a worried expression on her face. Joey lowered his head so that his eyes was covered by his hair, "About 7 years ago, my mother divorced from my old man, and she took Serenity with her, I don't know if my mother was only allowed to take her with her, however I stopped thinking about it a long time ago".

Joey's shoulders trembled as he continued speaking, "My little sister Serenity was born with bad eyes, we were told long ago that eventually she would go blind".

Yugi's eyes widened in shock and horror, "Blind?! But… but that's…" He wanted to say that it wasn't fair that Serenity would lose her sight at such a young age but he stopped himself.

Joey looked at Yugi with a pained smile on his face since he understood what Yugi had tried to say, "I guess that her doctors has told her that the day that we have been dreading is approaching. The damage in her eyes is not easy to fix, however there is some experienced doctors with much needed equipment in Germany that can save her sight if a surgery is performed soon".

Joey clenched his fists again while he spoke again with anger and pain in his voice, "But there is no way that me or our mother can pay for the operation. She's my little sister and it's my duty as her older brother to protect her and help her, but I can't do anything for her now when she needs me the most!"

Tristan placed a hand on Joey's shoulder while he closed his eyes with a pained expression on his face while Tea got tears in her eyes.

Yugi however got up on his feet and looked at Joey with a determined expression on his face, "You're wrong Joey, you can help your sister". Joey, Tea and Tristan looked at Yugi shocked, not understanding what he was talking about.

Yugi took out one of the cards Pegasus had sent him and revealed it to them and it was a card with the image of a gold treasure, "According to this Glory of the King's hand card, the winner will receive 3 000 000 yen as prize money".

Joey's eyes widened his eyes in shock as he stared at the card before he looked at Yugi, "Are you telling me… that you're willing to give me the prize money?" He was shocked that even a person as nice and caring as Yugi was willing to give away such a huge amount of prize money just like that.

Yugi got a smirk on his face, "If it comes down to it, yes, but I have another idea in mind right now". He then held out his hand and Joey saw that one of the star shaped objects that Pegasus had sent him was in his hand.

Joey looked at Yugi confused and Yugi smiled at him, "As long as you have at least one star chip, you're allowed to participate in the Duelist Kingdom tournament".

Joey got a shock expression on his face and quickly held up his hands and shook his head, "I can't take it, you need it".

Yugi narrowed his eyes with a determined expression on his face, "As long as I have one star chip, I can participate, I know that I could just give you the prize money if I win the tournament. However I know that you want to do everything you can do help Serenity yourself, which is why I think you should come with me".

Joey looked at Yugi for a few seconds before closed his eyes with a smile, "You're not going to accept a no right?" Joey had an amused and grateful tone in his voice before he reached out and took the star chip. Joey looked at Yugi with a grateful smile on his face, "Thanks Yug, let's work together to save gramps and to win the prize money for Serenity".

Yugi nodded his head while his smile grew bigger, happy to hear that Joey now had hope that he now had a chance to save his sister's sight, "We have a lot of work to do, more training and looking through our decks and maybe doing some slight changes if needed. However we don't have much time since the ship leaves from the Domino pier two days from now". Joey nodded his head since he knew that Yugi was right.

Tea had troubled expression on her face, "So you two will be going, and we won't be able to be there to support you guys". Tea had a depressed tone in her voice as she stated that, however Tristan just narrowed his eyes with a determined look in them.

Two days later, Yugi and Joey were waiting in line to get onboard on the ship that would transport them to the Kingdom. Joey was really nervous, he and Yugi had made some small changes to their decks and practice duels almost all of their spare time, however Joey knew that he still was far less experienced than most of the people that would be in this competition which means it would be tough for him.

Joey looked down at Yugi who looked up at him with a confident smile on his face, which caused Joey to smile as well, despite knowing what was waiting on them, Yugi was confident that both of them would be able to take down anyone who stood in their way, which eased his nerves a little.

Eventually so reached Yugi and Joey the guards that was waiting, both of them held up their star chips and the guards nodded their heads and let Yugi and Joey walk up on the ship.

At the same time, wooden crates was being lifted on to the ship, however inside of one of them two teenagers was sitting.

Tea was looking at Tristan a little troubled, "Alright, we managed to get onboard, however we will really be in trouble if we get caught".

Tristan looked at her with a serious expression, "I don't care about that, I'm not planning on letting Yugi and Joey go to an island belonging to a maniac like Pegasus without support". Tristan had never planned on waiting for Yugi and Joey to return, he had been checking things out while trying to find a way to sneak onboard the ship so he and Tea could go with them.

Tea nodded her head, "Yeah, I feel the same way, which is why agreed to this crazy plan, I just hope that no one will discover that we're not competitors". Tristan nodded his head, hoping the same thing as Tea.

An hour later, the ship had set sail and they would be arriving at the island the next day. Yugi and Joey was standing at the railing of the ship and looking out over the ocean.

A smile appeared on Joey's face, "You know Yug, one thing I think about sometimes is that if someone would've told me before that you would become my best friend, I would consider it a bad joke".

Yugi looked up at Joey with a troubled smile on his face, "Yeah, before we became friends, you and Tristan were bullies and troublemakers". Joey had changed so much since that time that Yugi really couldn't believe it.

Joey got a guilty expression on his face, "Yeah, because of how my personal life was, with my father and all that, I was angry at the world and took out my anger and pain on others, however I had a few rules that I never broke, like how I could make fun of someone weaker than me, but I refused to beat them up".

Joey narrowed his eyes, he had always considered it cowardly to beat up those who couldn't defend themselves which is why he never did that. He had then met Tristan who was also a kid angry at the world with the same morals as him.

Yugi looked out over the ocean again, Joey then continued, "I still can't believe that that bastard Tetsu Ushio was responsible for us becoming friends, never thought that I would ever be thankful towards him for anything". Joey chuckled darkly.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, knowing why Joey had said that. Tetsu Ushio had been their school's old hall monitor, however he was just a greedy and corrupt person, he abused his power as hall monitor, and even teachers usually didn't dare to speak against him.

He had one day come up to Yugi and offered him to be his bodyguard against bullies. He had then later that day asked Yugi to follow him behind the school after school and Yugi had been horrified to find Joey and Tristan beaten up.

While they usually made fun of him, Yugi couldn't stand watching them get beaten up and defended them against Ushio, who at that time told Yugi that he needed to pay him 20 000 yen for his services.

Yugi had then told him that if he wanted to beat someone up then Ushio should beat him up, Ushio had just laughed before he actually beat him up as well before Yugi had gotten threatened by him to pay him the money he believed that Yugi owed him.

It was that night that Yugi finally managed to put the Millennium Puzzle together. Joey had earlier stolen a piece of the Puzzle and had thrown it in to the river, however he had jumped in to the river in order to get it back after Yugi defended him and Tristan against Ushio.

Yugi had later learned that the moment he had completed the puzzle, Yami had appeared in his body, and the first thing he did was challenge Ushio to a Shadow Game and punish him for his crimes. Later evidence about Ushio abusing his powers was given to the principal who then expelled him.

Yugi looked at Joey who was looking out over the ocean, "I'm also grateful for that incident, after all, I gained two great friends because of it".

Yugi got a smile on his face on his face as he remembered how Joey had told him that he also had a treasure, but it was something that could be seen, but it couldn't be seen as the same time, which was his friendship with Yugi.

Joey looked at Yugi with a smirk, "I'm glad we're friends Yugi, and I will never be able thank you enough for giving me this chance, by giving me one of your star chips, you have put yourself in a disadvantage, which would make you a target by many strong duelists who would want to eliminate strong opponents quickly".

Yugi chuckled, "I know, which is why we shouldn't really talk about it, especially since they would also target you since they would realized that you're not that experienced". That was the main reason why Yugi wanted to keep quiet about that Joey had gotten one of his star chips since he wanted Joey to face some of the weaker competitors on the island first to gain more experienced first.

At that moment however, they heard a female voice, "Well, well, what do we have here?" Yugi and Joey turned around and saw an attractive girl who looked with long blond hair dressed in purple and with a camping bag over her right shoulder.

Joey blushed and stared at her, and Yugi had to admit that despite his feelings for Tea, he also found this girl really attractive. The girl walked over to them and leaned down and looked at Yugi with a smirk, "You're Yugi Muto right? It's really hard to believe that a shrimp like you defeated the undefeated Seto Kaiba. You're really famous you know".

Yugi shrunk down a little embarrassed while he blushed because of how close this girl were to him, "O-oh really? Thanks I guess". He didn't really know how to react since he had never been the center of attention before.

Joey however spoke at that moment with a large smile on his face, "Miss, I'm the best friend of the famous Yugi Muto, Joey Wheeler, and I'm a great duelist as well". Yugi felt a little troubled as he heard Joey bragging in order to trying to impress the girl in front of them, even lying by saying that he was a great, he was still learning after all.

The girl looked at Joey for a few seconds before she turned back towards Yugi, "I won't show mercy even to a shrimp in a duel, so be prepared to be crushed by me". She then turned around and began walking away.

However she then stopped and looked over her shoulder and added, "The name is Mai Valentine, I'll see you on the island next when I knock you out of the competition". She then walked away.

Joey stared after her with a love struck expression. However a bit away, a nervous Tristan was trying to calm down an enraged Tea.

Tea had really angry expression on her face as she spoke with a dangerous voice, "What was that about?! Here we're worried about and those two idiots are getting charmed by a girl like that? I expected nothing else from Joey, but I thought Yugi was better than that".

Tristan was hushing her while looking around worried, "Tea! I don't care if you get jealous over that Yugi getting charmed by some other girl, but please be quiet, otherwise we will be discovered". He knew that if they were discovered, they would be in trouble.

Tea glared at Tristan with slightly red cheeks, "H-huh? Who said I'm jealous about some arrogant girl charmed Yugi? I just didn't think that he was better than Joey".

Tristan held up his hands, "Okay, okay I get it, so please keep your voice down". Tristan begged as he looked around, worried that any guards would discover them.

A little while later a furious Joey was standing in a large lounge where all the other participants were gathered, "You're kidding with me right? We're onboard this large ship, and yet we're all supposed to share one room like this? Aren't there any single rooms we can use?"

Then a voice was heard from the door, "What's going on here? Who is yelling sp loudly in the lounge?" Yugi and Joey turned around and saw Rex Raptor standing in the door with a confused and irritated expression.

Weevil then appeared next to him and his eyes widened when they fell on Yugi, "Hey, aren't you Yugi Muto?" Rex looked at Weevil shocked when he heard that before he looked at Yugi and saw that he was right.

Yugi nodded his head, trying to ignore all the whispering that had started after his name was mentioned, "Yeah, and you guys are the winner and runner up of the National Championship, Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor".

Rex chuckled with a smirk, "That's right, also there is single rooms on this ship, however they're reserved for champions like us".

Yugi ran over to them and looked at Weevil with a smile, "Hey Weevil, congratulations for winning the National Championship".

Weevil chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "It was nothing at all, most of the opponents were amateurs". Yugi got a troubled smile on his face when he heard that, he knew that a lot of inexperienced players had participated, Joey being one of them.

Rex snorted and closed his eyes, "Yeah tell me about it, not many could put a real challenge, also don't misunderstand, I would've won the final match if I hadn't underestimated Underwood which made me hold back in the duel".

Joey came over to them with a smile on his face, "You were amazing in the championship, but Yugi and I will be the winners of the Duelist Kingdom, right Yugi?"

Yugi nodded his head and looked at Joey with a determined look in his eyes. They had to win this tournament, in order to save his grandpa and win the prize money in order to save Serenity's sight.

Weevil looked at Yugi, "I might have been declared the National Champion, however even though I won the championship I'm not satisfied, I won't be satisfied until I beat champion duelists like you or Seto Kaiba".

Yugi turned towards Weevil with a shocked expression, he had never considered himself to be a champion, after all, he and Yami wouldn't had been able to beat Kaiba if they hadn't managed to summon Exodia in the duel.

Weevil closed his eyes and sighed disappointed, "Kaiba unfortunately is in a coma, so I won't be able to face him…" He then looked at Yugi with a smirk, "However, I have a feeling that we will end up dueling in this tournament Yugi. I'm really looking forward to that duel". He adjusted his glasses and chuckled.

Yugi got a smile on his face, "Yeah me too, if possible, I would like to face you in the finals". Yugi felt like it would be really exciting if he got to duel Weevil in the finals.

Rex let out a mocking sound, "Huh? He's just some little punk! I doubt he will even make it to the finals". Joey glared a little at Rex for his rude comment about Yugi.

Weevil took a few steps closer to Yugi, "That's right, have you heard that there will be some new dueling rules exclusive for this tournament?"

Yugi got a shocked expression when he heard that, "New rules?" He hadn't heard anything about that and he doubted that anyone else had either.

Weevil's smirk grew, "I'm not sure, but based on the rumors I've heard, it seems like you'll have think of some new strategies, different from the ones your usual strategies". Yugi looked at him confused, wondering where Weevil would've heard these rumors.

Rex however just chuckled, "I don't care if there are some special rules or not, the only rule for me is to beat the crap out of every other competitor that stands in my way".

Joey nodded his head, liking Rex's attitude, "That's right. You know, I thought that you would win the championship for sure because of how good you were, so I'm sure you'll do well here too".

Rex closed his eyes with a smirk, "Well of course I will since I'm a winner, but thanks anyway. Now I think I'll go to my single room and rest, have fun together with the rest of the losers". He let out a small chuckle as he turned around and left the lounge.

Joey who had gotten shocked by what Rex had said gritted his teeth, "I take back what I said earlier, I hope he gets eliminated as quickly as possible". He couldn't stand arrogant people like Rex at all.

Weevil looked at Joey, "You complained about not having a single room right? Well competitors being together like this is not bad either, just look behind you".

Yugi and Joey turned around confused and saw the other competitors sitting together with their decks and they saw how a few of them exchanging cards.

Weevil then continued with a smile, "In competitions like this, competitors usually practice and trade cards with each other. Not only is that a good way to make some improve your deck before the competition, but it also allows you to learn a bit about your opponents decks".

Yugi nodded his head with a smile, "I see, so that's what you meant when you said it's not bad when competitors are together like this". He realized that Weevil was right about that this was a good way to learn about the opponents while improving your own deck.

Yugi then noticed that Joey had moved over to the other duelists with his own cards out, looking at their cards while showing some of his own, asking if they were willing to trade.

Yugi chuckled a little troubled when he saw this. Weevil turned around, "People who can't trust their own deck at this point will be in trouble on the island. I guess I should return to my room now, so until we meet again Yugi". Yugi looked after Weevil as he left the lounge.

Rex at the time was walking back towards his room when he heard someone shout, he stopped and saw how a guard backed out of the lounge for the female competitors with Mai following him while she glared at him, "You have to be kidding me, you expect a lady like me to stay in a room that doesn't even have a shower?!"

The guard looked at Mai with a nervous expression on his face, not sure how to calm her down, "I-I'm sorry, but those are the rules, there is nothing I can do about it".

Mai narrowed her eyes as her glare got even sharper, "Get the idiot responsible in here then".

Rex chuckled as he walked over to them, "If you keep acting like them, then they might just throw you off the ship".

Mai looked at the newcomer confused, "Who are you?" She had no idea who this guy was or why he would get involved.

Rex with blushing cheeks looked at Mai, "I was the runner up in the National Championship, which means I have my own room, and if you want, you can come with me to it".

A smile appeared on Mai's face, "Oh really? I'm really happy, so should we go then?" Rex got a shocked and happy expression on his face when Mai accepted and told her to follow him and the two of them left the confused and shocked guard behind.

At the same time, Tea came out of hiding while she was looking around, "No good, I can't hold it in anymore". She needed to pee, but she didn't know where the toilets were.

Tristan's head came up from behind a few boxes, "Hey, what are you doing? Get back behind the boxes".

Tea looked at him with a troubled expression, "But I need to pee, I need to find a toilet".

Tristan looked at her shocked, however he then got a smile on his face and just pointed at the railings, "Just do it over there".

Tea glared at him while her cheeks turned red, "Idiot! I'm not a man!" She saw how Tristan chuckled which only made her even more irritated.

However both of them froze in fear when they heard a door open. Tristan quickly lowered his head while Tea moved out of sight while still being able to see the door that had just been opened and gasped in shock when she saw a boy with white hair coming out of the room.

Tea quickly moved behind the boxes and sat down next to Tristan, "Was that Bakura I just saw". She was sure that it was their classmate Ryou Bakura, however she had never seen him duel so she hadn't known that he was a duelist.

Tristan looked at her shocked when he heard that, he got a doubtful expression on his face, "It can't be him right? Based on what I have heard, Bakura does have a deck, but he isn't that good at dueling".

Tea narrowed her eyes, wondering if it really had been Bakura she had seen or just someone who looked similar to him.

At the same time, Rex sat down in one of the couches in his private room while Mai walked in to the room while she closed the door and looked around in the room and saw that it was a high class room.

Rex looked at Mai with a smirk, "So, what do you think about my room".

Mai gave Rex a charming smile, "The room is really nice. You really must be really good at dueling if you were given a room like this".

Rex closed his eyes and chuckled, "I guess, I did reach the final match of the National Championship after all". Rex once again bragged about being the second best duelist in the country.

Mai got a smirk on her face as she sat down in the other couch across from Rex, "That's amazing, I really love challenging strong men, wanna play?" If she played things right, she might get this room for herself.

Rex opened one eye and looked at Mai with a smirk, "Huh? Who do you think you're talking to lady? You don't stand a chance against me".

Mai's smirk grew bigger, "Come on, I won't know unless I try. Let's make a deal, if you win, I'll do anything you want". Rex blushed when Mai said that before he chuckled. Mai was satisfied since she knew that he had taken the bait.

At the same time, Yugi and Joey were standing on the ship deck. Joey held out a few cards towards Yugi, "Hey Yugi, check out these amazing cards I got through the trades".

Yugi looked at the cards interested, "Hmm, Salamandra, Kunai with Chain, Blast with Chain, Metalmorph and Shield and Sword!" Yugi got a smile on his face since Joey had managed to get some good traps through the trades. However there was one he felt that he needed to explain a little to Joey just in case he didn't completely understand its effect.

Yugi looked at Joey with a smile, "These cards are great, with these cards, you will have many combos you can do with the monsters and spell cards in your deck, however, you need to be careful with Metalmorph".

Joey got a confused expression on his face when he heard that. Yugi grabbed Metalmorth and held it up in front of Joey before he continued, "Metalmorph can be equipped to a monster and increase its attack and defense by 300. Also it has an effect that increases the equipped monster's attack points by half of the opposing monster it's battling, but only if the equipped monster was the one that declared the attack".

Joey's eyes widened as he understood what Yugi was trying to tell him, "In other words, it won't increase the equipped monster's attack points if it is attacked, which means you might need ways to protect the equipped monster until it's your turn again". Yugi nodded his head with a smile since Joey had understood and then handed back Metalmorph to him.

Yugi then walked over to a golden box on the table next to them. It was the box that the Millennium Puzzle had originally been in when it was in pieces, now however Yugi was having his deck and some reserve cards in it.

He lifted the lock of the box and took out two cards from the deck and held out them towards Joey, "Here Joey, I would like you to add these cards to your deck, they will work together with your Baby Dragon".

Joey took the cards and looked at them curious and saw that one of them was a spellcaster monster that looked like a clock called Time Wizard while the other card was of a large brown old dragon called Thousand Dragon.

Joey read the effects of the cards and a smile appeared on his face, "I see what you mean Yugi, these cards can really help me quite a bit".

Joey then looked at Yugi with a grateful expression, "Thanks Yug, despite the situation you're in, you have been helping me so much".

Joey then narrowed his eyes and asked something he had been wondering for a while now, "You brought it with you, right Yug? That card?"

Yugi narrowed his eyes and nodded his head, knowing exactly what card Joey was talking about. He picked up the top card of his deck and turned it around. It was his grandfather's Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Yugi looked at Blue-Eyes with a sad expression on his face, "Blue-Eyes means so much for grandpa, and so, I'm sure that Blue-Eyes wants to save him as much as I do, which is why I hope he will lend me his power when I need him". He knew that Blue-Eyes's true loyalty was with his grandfather, however he hoped he would be willing to work with him.

Joey placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder with a smile on his face, "Don't worry Yugi, I know he will help you save your grandfather". Yugi looked up at Joey with a small smile on his face before he placed Blue-Eyes back in to the box. The two of them then heard footsteps coming towards them.

Joey and Yugi followed the sound and saw Weevil walking towards them with a smile on his face, "Well, I didn't expect to find you two out here".

At the same time, Mai placed her deck down on the table between her and Rex, "First shuffle my deck for me please".

Rex grabbed it with a smirk, "No problem". He then shuffled the deck while he mentally chuckled, _I'm so lucky, I'll be having a fun time tonight_. He was completely sure that he would win the duel and then Mai would have to do anything he wanted.

He finished shuffling the deck and held it out towards Mai, "All done".

However Mai leaned back in the couch while she crossed her arms, "Before we start, I'll be guessing the cards from the top, while I have my eyes closed".

Rex got a shocked expression for a second before he got a smirk on his face again, "You're going to guess the cards? That's impossible". There was no way that Mai could possibly know what the cards were, especially with her eyes closed.

Mai got a smug look on her face before she closed her eyes, "The first card is Harpie's Pet Dragon".

Rex turned the top card over and his eyes widened when he saw that it was a large red dragon with chains, the Harpie's Pet Dragon, "No way! That was just a coincidence". He refused to believe that she had actually predicted what the top card was.

Mai just chuckled, "And next, is Harpie's Feather Duster". Rex placed Harpie's Pet Dragon on the table and flipped over the next card and saw that she was right again, "Next is Cyber Shield, and after that is my Mirror Wall".

Rex flipped over the next two cards and his eyes widened in disbelief, "N-no way! That's impossible!" She had guessed four cards correctly.

Mai opened her eyes and her smirk grew bigger, "That's my card trick, I know exactly which card I'm about to draw at all time. Now let's begin this duel, also, if I win, you must leave this room so I can have it for myself".

Rex narrowed his eyes, "Oh yeah? I'll show you". He wasn't going to lose this duel. He would win and teach this arrogant girl a lesson.

At the same time, Weevil was standing with his hands on the railing on the ship's deck, "Ah, the wind feels good in the face".

Weevil then turned towards Yugi with a smile on his face, "Hey Yugi, I have heard a certain rumor that got me really interested. I heard that you won against Kaiba by summoning Exodia, is that true?"

Yugi got a smile on his face, "As expected by Weevil Underwood, I don't know how you found out, but yeah, I managed to gather the cards needed to summon Exodia".

He didn't know how the fact that he had summoned Exodia had gotten out since only Mokuba and Joey had been watching the duel, however he guessed it must have gotten out at the same time that the fact that he had beaten Kaiba did.

Weevil's smile grew bigger, "Would you be willing to show me those legendary cards Yugi?"

Yugi nodded his head, "Sure, I don't see why not since you already know about my secret strategy". Yugi turned towards the box and opened it. Yugi took out his deck and looked through it and grabbed the five pieces of Exodia.

Yugi turned towards Weevil and held them towards Weevil, "Here".

Weevil took the cards and looked at them, "So these are the cards that summons the legendary Exodia! For a long time now, I have been trying to figure a good strategy to defeat these cards, however I haven't been able to".

A smirk then appeared on Weevil's face, "Not until now that is". Yugi and Joey got confused expressions on their faces while Weevil turned around and walked towards the railing.

Yugi and Joey then saw to their horror how Weevil threw the cards off of the boat. Yugi and Joey ran over to the railing and saw how the cards landed in the water.

Weevil then began to walk away while he laughed, "Now that Exodia is gone, I have nothing to fear!"

Joey looked after Weevil with an expression of pure rage on his face as the younger boy kept laughing, "You little…"

However he then heard Yugi cry out in despair, "My cards! Those were the precious cards that my grandpa gave me".

Joey gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to run after Weevil and beat the shit out of him. Joey placed his foot on the railing and dived off the boat, causing Yugi to cry out in shock.

Joey landed in the water and started looking around, "I gotta find them quickly before the sea pull them too far away".

Yugi leaned down over the railing with a horrified expression, "Joey! Don't risk your life for my cards, come back to the boat now and I'll throw down the rope ladder!"

However Joey ignored what Yugi had just said since he had just seen one of the cards. He swam over and grabbed and looked around, only for a wave to hit him and pull him under the water for a few seconds before he managed to get back up.

He then noticed another card and swam towards it and managed to grab it as well. However he then was hit by another wave, bigger than the previous, which pulled him down again.

Yugi couldn't just stand and watch it and dived off of the boat and landed in the water and looked around, desperately searching for Joey. He then noticed Joey who barely managed to keep his head over the water.

Yugi quickly swam over to Joey and used every bit of strength he had in order to keep him over the water surface, Yugi gritted his teeth, in his panic, he had forgotten to throw down the rope ladder, and since no one had seen what had happened, no one would be coming to help them.

However Yugi then heard a loud splash coming from the boat. He turned his head and saw to his shock that Tristan was swimming towards them.

"Tristan? But… but how are you…?" Tristan was supposed to still be in Domino City, so Yugi was shocked to see him here.

Tristan swam over to them and grabbed a hold of Joey, "Let's ask questions later, let's just get back to the ship, Tea should be throwing down the rope ladder right now".

Yugi was shocked to hear that Tea was also on the ship, however he just nodded his head and both he and Tristan managed to get Joey back to the ship and saw that the rope ladder was indeed down. Yugi looked up and saw a worried Tea looking down at them.

Tristan managed to get enough life back in to Joey so he could grab a hold of the ladder and climb up with Tristan right below him in case Joey would fall.

At the same time, Rex got thrown out of his room. He glared at the door while Mai leaned out of it while she threw out Rex's bag, "Get lost loser, this is my room now". She then closed the door with a smirk while Rex was lying on the floor while he gritted his teeth in anger. He swore that he would get revenge on Mai once they were on the island.

At the same time, Joey, Tristan and Yugi had gotten back up on the deck. Tristan was checking to see if Joey were okay while Tea did the same to Yugi.

Yugi smiled at Tea, "I'm okay Tea, well, at least better than Joey. I guess I should have guessed that you two wouldn't just let us go without you guys". Tea smiled back at him while Tristan also looked at him with a smirk.

However all of them then looked at Joey when he spoke, "I'm sorry Yugi, I did my best, but I could only find two of the pieces of Exodia". Joey held up the two cards he had managed to find with a depressed expression on his face.

Yugi looked at him with a comforting smile, "Don't worry about it Joey, while I'm sad that I lost the cards, I'm just glad that you're okay". Joey got a small smile on his face when he heard that.

However, Joey got an angry expression on his face the next moment, "However, I can't forgive that damned Weevil, he's gonna pay for this". Yugi narrowed his eyes and nodded his head while Tea and Tristan looked at them confused.

Yami then appeared next to Yugi and looked down at him, _"Yugi…"_ He didn't know what to say since the lost of Exodia had been painful for both of them since they were precious cards that grandpa had given them.

Yugi looked at Yami over his shoulder, _"Yami, let me settle the score with Weevil once we get to the island. I plan to face him as soon as possible. He won't get away with this"._ Yami nodded his head. He knew that this was personal now for Yugi, which is why he wasn't going to stop him from facing Weevil.


	4. Beating down the hornet's nest

Yu-Gi-Oh! Rise of a Legend

Chapter 4

The ship had arrived at the Kingdom. The participants were currently walking off of the ship, down on to the pier. Tea and Tristan was nervous as they were walking down since they wasn't supposed to be there, but tried to not look guilty in order to avoid suspicion.

Yugi looked around with a serious expression on his face, "So this is the Kingdom, we have finally arrived". Now he just needed to find out the rules for the tournament and win his way through it in order to get to Pegasus so he could win back his grandpa

However Yugi jumped slightly when he heard a loud sneeze behind him. He turned around concerned and looked at Joey who was drying his nose with the sleeve of his green jacket while Tea and Tristan was also looking at him concerned.

"I'm sorry Joey, if I hadn't been so foolish then you wouldn't have a cold right now". Yugi felt that it was his fault, because if he hadn't shown Weevil his Exodia cards then he wouldn't have been able to throw them overboard and Joey wouldn't have jumped in to the ocean.

Joey looked at Yugi with a smirk, "Don't worry about it Yug, I mean, you didn't do anything wrong". He then narrowed his eyes and got an angry expression on his face before he turned his head to his right, "It's that bastard's fault, who threw your important cards overboard".

Yugi followed Joey's gaze and saw how Weevil was looking at them with a satisfied smirk. Yugi narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, _Weevil, I won't forgive you for what you did._ Yugi thought to himself, determined to knock Weevil out of this tournament as soon as possible.

At that moment, a tall man with brown hair with his hair shaped in to a spike on his forehead with sunglasses and a black suit, "Welcome duelist, to the Kingdom, my name is Kemo. Now please, be kind and gather around the castle gate". He turned around and held out his hand towards the castle on top of s cliff.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "So that's Pegasus's castle huh?"

Joey placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder and looked at him with a smirk, "alright, let's get going then". Yugi nodded his head with a serious expression and the gang followed the rest of the participants.

Yugi and Joey walked up the stairs towards Pegasus's castle with Tea and Tristan walking behind them. However Tea then noticed a boy with white hair in the forest, she stopped shocked and looked again but the boy was gone.

Tristan noticed that Tea had stopped and turned around and looked at her confused, "Tea? What are you looking at?" Yugi and Joey heard Tristan's question and turned around and looked Tea with wondering expressions.

Tea looked at the boys with a confused expression, "I could've sworn that I just saw Bakura in the forest, but now he's gone".

All three of the boys looked in the direction she had been looking, however they couldn't see their white haired classmate. Joey looked at Tea, "Maybe you just thought you saw him Tea. Anyway we should hurry up and get to the castle".

Tea got a confused expression on her face, she was sure that she had seen Bakura, however right now was not the time to think about it. She then followed the boys as they continued towards the castle.

A while later, everyone was standing outside the gates to the castle, two boys who was old friends was standing next to each other and was looking at the competitors and one of them noticed Weevil, "Wow, check it out, that's Weevil Underwood, he's the National Champion".

His friend then noticed Rex, "And there is Rex Raptor, the runner up in the championship".

The first boy then noticed a tall muscular boy without a shirt with black spiky hair and a spear in his hand, "And that's Mako Tsunami, he was third in the championship". He was amazed to see the top three of the National Championship in one place at the same time.

The second boy looked around, "Wow many strong duelists are here, however if Seto Kaiba wasn't in a coma and was here right now, then he would win no doubt, I mean he is the World Champion".

The first boy looked at him shocked, "Well he was, after he did get defeated by that guy Yugi Muto. He must've been invited to this tournament if he was good enough to defeat Kaiba. I just wish I knew how he looked, I would love to challenge him to see how good he really is".

The boys however had no idea that Yugi and his friends was standing not far from them and heard their entire conversation. Yugi had an embarrassed expression on his face while his friends just looked at him with smiles on their faces.

However at that moment Kemo appeared on the balcony over the castle gates, "Listen up duelists. Your host, the great Maximillion Pegasus will now explain the rules of this tournament for all of you". Everyone looked when they heard that and saw Kemo walk away.

Yugi narrowed his eyes when he saw Pegasus appear on the balcony while Yami appeared next to him and glared at Pegasus.

Pegasus looked down and immediately located Yugi and his friends, he silently chuckled for himself, _Excellent, you're here Yugi boy, which means that the first part of my plan is now in motion_. Pegasus thought to himself.

Pegasus held out his arms wide with a smile, "Welcome duelist, to the Duelist Kingdom tournament! Now allow me to explain the rules to you. You're free to use your Duel Monsters cards anyway you want during the tournament. The normal rules are still intact, each player will have 4000 life points and direct attacks are allowed if the opponent has no monsters on the field".

Pegasus then stopped talking for a second while he seemed to be picking up something and then held up the glove and the star chips they had received before arriving on the island, "Now, every duelist invited received a Duelist glove and two star chips in advance".

Pegasus then held out the glove before he continued, "Now, as you all can see, there is ten holes on the glove's ring in which you will be keeping your star chips". The duelists put on their gloves while Pegasus was talking and put their star chips in to the ring.

Pegasus then held up a star chip so that everyone could see it, "Now, these star chips are the proof as your status as a participant of this tournament, and during each duel, the duelists will be betting star chips".

Yugi narrowed his eyes, _I see, in order words, the loser has to give the star chips that was betted to the winner of the duel, which means that the ones that loses all of their star chips are eliminated from the tournament_.

Yugi looked at Joey and saw the nervous look in his eyes and he knew why, he and Joey had only one star chip each, which meant that they both had to win their first duels in order to remain in the tournament.

Pegasus then spoke again, "This whole island will be the battlefield for your duels, and the ones who manage to survive this battle royale and obtain 10 star chips will be allowed inside of the castle and take parts of the finals".

Pegasus then held up a finger and spoke with a serious tone, "However, you only have a 48 hours time limit to duel and win 10 star chips, and the tournament will be starting in one hour. Everyone who hasn't managed to gather 10 star chips after 48 hours is automatically eliminated from the tournament and will be sent away from the island".

Pegasus then continued, "Also, there is some special rules exclusive to this tournament that will test your knowledge of the game, also some of the rules can be used based on the star chips you're betting. I could tell you about them right now, however where is the fun in that? It's more fun to learn about them by yourselves through the duels, but don't worry, you will be informed when the special rules that is decided by the betting of star chips can be used".

Pegasus smiled at the duelist, "Alright dear duelists, I wish all of you the best of luck in your duels, now spend this next hour to get ready because after that, the duel begins".

Pegasus then walked away with a smirk on his face, _Now fight Yugi boy, after all, if you want to save your grandfather, you need ten star chips in order to get in to the castle, and I'll be waiting for you, that is if you manage to get through all of the traps I have set for you._ Pegasus thought to himself while he chuckled.

Yugi clenched his right fist with the glove, _"Don't worry grandpa, we will win ten star chips and we will save you"._ Yugi looked at Yami after mentally saying that, _"Right Yami?"_

Yami looked at him with a determined expression on his face, _"No doubt about it, we will take down anyone who tries to stop us from saving grandpa"._ Yugi smiled at Yami and nodded his head.

Tristan around and saw how everyone was leaving the castle yard, he then looked at his friends, "Alright, we should get out of here and check the island, to see if he can find out anything about these special dueling rules Pegasus talked about, I mean it will be useful if we can learn a little about it before the duels begins".

Yugi and the others nodded their heads and then all of them left the castle yard.

Almost an hour later, Yugi and the others was standing in a meadow field. They had searched most of the island, however they hadn't found any clues about the new rules.

Joey stood in front of Yugi while he was holding his star chip with a troubled expression, "I'm sorry Yugi, you gave me one of these important star chips, which puts you in a difficult situation since it means that you can't lose your first duel, I don't think that you are gonna lose, but still…" Joey still felt troubled and wondered if he should give it back to Yugi.

However Yugi just shook his head with a smile on face, "Don't be sorry Joey, I gave it to you since I have faith that you will do well in this tournament, not only that, but you have a reason to be here, and that reason will give you strength". Just like Yugi's mission to save his grandfather would give him strength, Joey's desire to get the money to save his sister's eyes would give him strength and motivate him to fight harder and get better.

Joey smiled at Yugi with a grateful expression on his face, happy not only that Yugi was giving him this chance, but also that he had that much faith in him.

Tea looked at Joey with a supporting smile, "We know that you two will do well, just take it slowly Joey and don't face too experienced players too early".

Tristan nodded his head, "Yeah, face some of the less experienced players first and work your way up. Remember, we will be here to support you the whole time".

Joey looked at them with a touched expression, "You guys…" He was so happy that he had such great and supporting friends. He then turned towards Yugi with a determined expression on his face, "Alright Yugi, we must win the first our first duels, to save gramps and to save my sister's eyes". Yugi nodded his head with a determined expression on his face.

They then suddenly heard bangs and saw how fireworks got fired up in to the sky, which signaled the start of the Duelist Kingdom tournament.

Yugi and the gang walked through the meadow field, Joey looked at Yugi, "So what are you planning Yug?" He had an idea of what Yugi was planning, but he still asked in order to be sure.

Yugi narrowed his eyes as he continued walking, "You know what I'm going to do Joey, after what happened on the boat, I plan on facing Weevil first and knock him out of the tournament".

He took out two cards from his pocket and looked at them, it was the ruined Exodia cards that Joey had managed to get his hands on. While they were really damaged by the water and not that useful without the other three, Yugi refused to get rid of them.

Joey got a cruel smirk on his face, "Yeah I suspected that you were going to say that, and let me tell you, I'm looking forward to seeing that little bug get knocked out of the tournament after what he did". Tea and Tristan nodded their heads with angry expressions. Yugi and Joey had told them that it had been Weevil who threw Yugi's Exodia cards overboard and so they also wanted him to pay for that.

Yugi put the Exodia cards in to his pocket again and looked up in time to see Weevil at the edge of the forest, causing him to stop in his tracks. The gang had also seen him and glared at him with angry expressions.

Yugi opened his mouth to call out a challenge to Weevil. However to his shock so turned Weevil around and ran in to the forest.

Joey got an angry expression on his face, "That coward, he's just planning on running away scared now after what he did on the boat?"

However Yugi had a feeling that Joey was wrong, he had seen the expression on Weevil's face before he ran away and he had had a confident smirk on his face, he knew that Weevil expected him to follow him. He knew that Weevil most likely was leading them in to a trap, however he didn't plan on letting him get away.

Yugi started running towards the forest with Joey, Tristan and Tea not far behind him. Once they got in to the forest they saw Weevil a bit ahead of them, Joey gritted his teeth, "Damn it, he might get away if this keeps up. Damn that Pegasus, why did he decide to make the whole island the battlefield?"

Yugi narrowed his eyes. That was something he had been wondering about himself since Pegasus mentioned it, why would they need an whole island as a battlefield just for a card game?

Yugi's eyes widened when he remembered when Weevil had asked him if he knew about the special rules that would be exclusive on this island. As they had walked across it, he had noticed the different sceneries on it.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, _So that's it! That's what you meant, isn't it Weevil?_ He believed that he had figured the main reason for why they had decided to host the tournament on this island in the first place.

They soon reached a clearing and saw Weevil standing near the middle of it waiting for them with a smirk on his face. Weevil pointed at Yugi, "Alright Yugi, it's time for us to settle this, prepare yourself because I'm gonna take you down".

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "Think again Weevil, you're gonna pay for what you did on the boat. Now let's stop talking and let's just get this duel started".

Weevil chuckled , "I couldn't have said it better myself, it's time… to DUEL!" The ground began to shake after he said it. The gang then got shocked as they saw how a dueling arena appeared out of the ground.

Joey had a shocked expression, "Are you trying to tell me that they have dueling arenas spread out all over the island?"

Weevil just stared in to Yugi's eyes with a smirk, "Now let's do this Yugi". Weevil then ran over to the red platform and jumped up on it and it got lifted up to the dueling table.

Yugi then walked over to the blue platform and got up on it and it got lifted up to the dueling table.

Weevil chuckled as he stared at Yugi, "I noticed that you only have one star chip left Yugi, so I guess that means that I'll get the pleasure of eliminating you from the tournament, and once you're gone, the other's chips will be easy picking". Weevil said while he grabbed one star chip in the ring of his glove in order to pull it out.

Yugi however held up his star chip, "Not if I take both of yours first". Weevil stopped shocked and looked at Yugi for a few seconds before he started laughing, "And why would I bet both of my star chips while you only have one?"

Yugi narrowed his eyes while he opened his deck box, "Because if you do, I'll bet my life as a duelist". He then held up his deck, "My whole Duel Monsters deck".

A cruel smirk appeared on Weevil's face when he heard that, "Oh really? How interesting, alright I accept that deal, however it's a shame, if I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have gotten rid of Exodia".

Joey, Tristan and Tea got angry expression when they heard that part and Joey held up his right fist, "Crush him like the tiny little bug he is Yugi!" He really wanted Weevil to be put in his place.

Weevil put down both of his star chips on the table while Yugi put down his one. Weevil then looked at the side of the table with a smirk and pressed a button, "And since I betted one more star chip than you, I choose that we will use the first of the special rule based on the star chips".

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "And what rule is that?" However he could tell from the tone of Weevil's voice and his expression that he had no intention of telling him.

Weevil chuckled, "Oh, you'll find out soon enough Yugi, now let's begin". Yugi narrowed his eyes since he suspected that Weevil would do this.

Joey gritted his teeth, "So he really knows what the special rules are, and by not telling Yugi, he will get an advantage from the beginning". Tea and Tristan got troubled expressions since they knew that he was right.

Yugi and Weevil placed down their decks and both drew their first five cards and the holographic display system got activated and Yugi narrowed his eyes when he noticed that the field they were playing on looked exactly like the surrounding area, which confirmed his suspicions.

Yugi placed his fingers on his deck, "I'll go first". Weevil just shrugged his shoulders, not caring and Yugi drew his next card and looked at it. He then looked at his hand before he had placed the card he had drawn in his hand before he grabbed another one.

"I place one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn". He placed a monster face down in defense mode and a spot in front of him lit up.

Weevil chuckled as he drew his next card, "That's all? I expected more from the great Yugi Muto that defeated Kaiba. I guess you really aren't much of a threat without Exodia". Yugi tried to keep himself from smiling.

Weevil then revealed the card he had drawn and it was a golden ladybug with zero attack and defense points, "First, since it's my standby phase, I can reveal the Golden Ladybug I just drew, you see, once per turn I can reveal Golden Ladybug during my standby phase in order to gain 500 life points, also this card will remain revealed until the end phase of my turn". Weevil LP: 4000-4500.

Weevil then placed Golden Ladybug in his hand with the image towards Yugi and then grabbed another, "And next, I summon Dungeon Worm in attack mode". A large brown worm appeared with spikes surrounding its head and had a large round mouth with sharp teeth in it appeared on the field, Atk: 1800.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "Hold on, Dungeon Worm is a level 5 normal monster. How did you just summon him like that?" However he had a feeling that he knew how.

Weevil chuckled, "It's simple Yugi, the rule that I activated since I offered one more star chip is that all level 5 or higher monsters we summon needs one less sacrifice than normal, which means that level 5 and 6 monsters can be normal summoned directly to the field".

Weevil then pointed at Dungeon Worm, "And not only that, based on the field your playing on, the monster that belongs to the field will gain a field power bonus of 30% of their attack and defense points, and since we're in the forest, Dungeon Worm now gets a field power bonus". Dungeon Worm, Atk & Def: 1800-2340/1500-1950.

Joey gritted his teeth when he saw this, "Are you serious? So that's why that little bug brought us all in to the forest, so that his monsters would get a power boost from the forest". He was troubled since he knew that Yugi barely had any monsters that belonged to the forest field.

Weevil chuckled as he looked at Yugi, "Yugi, if you had been smart enough to find out about the new rules ahead of everyone else like I did, then you might not have fallen in to my trap again, and now…" Weevil pointed at Yugi's face down monster, "Attack his face down monster Dungeon Worm".

Dungeon Worm took and dug itself down in to the ground. A few seconds later the ground underneath Yugi's defense position monster and Dungeon Worm appeared out of the ground and caught Yugi's monster that got revealed in his mouth.

Weevil had a confident expression on his field until he saw that Dungeon Worm was struggling, then a large stone creature with a weapon that was a long staff with a bent hammer on each side of it slowly moved out of his mouth.

Weevil looked on shocked until he heard Yugi chuckle. He looked at Yugi who had a smile on his face, "You should take a closer look on this field Weevil, because a small piece of it is wasteland, and rock monsters, like my Sentry Soldier of Stone, feels right at home in the wasteland, which means that he gains a field power bonus as well". Sentry Soldier of Stone, Atk & Def: 1300-1690/2000-2600.

Weevil then watched how Sentry Soldier of Stone got out of Dungeon Worm's mouth and jumped off of him and then slammed him with his weapon, sending him flying back to Weevil's field, Weevil LP: 4500-4240.

Weevil gritted his teeth and glared at Yugi while Sentry Solder of Stone landed in front of him and then went down on a knee, "Don't tell me that you figured out about the field power bonus when you saw this field?"

Yugi smiled at him, "Well, I had been wondering why the tournament was being held on an island instead on the mainland, however after remembering what you said to me on the boat, as well as seeing the different sceneries, I figured that the rule Pegasus mention must've been that the different types of monsters would have some kind of advantage on a field that they belonged to. Like the forest for your insects, and the wasteland for my Sentry Soldier of Stone".

Weevil lowered his head and chuckled. He then looked up at Yugi with a smirk, "You're really clever to have figured that out like that, however it won't help you, I will still defeat you".

Weevil then grabbed Golden Ladybug and turned the card I around, "I end my turn now, your move Yugi".

Yugi placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it, a smirk appeared on his face. Yugi looked up, "Weevil, thanks for showing me that we can just summoned level 5 and 6 monsters without sacrificing anything".

Yugi turned around the card he was holding, "I summon Chaos Command Magician in attack mode". A magician dressed in green and yellow with a hat with a bent spiky top as well as a spiky back with a staff in his right hand appeared on the field, Atk: 2400.

Weevil gritted his teeth when he saw the high level spellcaster appear. Yugi then grabbed another card in his hand, "And next, I equip him with Big Bang Shot, which means that not only does he gain 400 attack points, but he can now also inflict piercing damage". Chaos Command Magician spun his staff before he held it in front of him, Atk: 2400-2800.

Weevil gritted his teeth, "You're magician has 2800 attack points now?" Chaos Command Magician would've been able to destroy Dungeon Worm anyway, but now he would take more damage.

Yugi grabbed Sentry Solder of Stone's card, "And next, I switch Sentry Soldier of Stone to attack mode". Sentry Solder of Stone stood up and grabbed his weapon with both hands.

Yugi then pointed at Dungeon Worm, "Now Chas Command Magician, attack his Dungeon Worm with Chaos Blast". Chaos Command Magician pointed his staff at Dungeon Worm and fired a blast of dark energy towards him and destroyed him, which caused Weevil to shield his face, Weevil LP: 4240-3780.

Yugi then pointed at Weevil, "And next, I attack your life points directly with Sentry Soldier of Stone". Sentry Soldier of Stone swung his weapon and hit Weevil's platform, making him shield his face again, Weevil LP: 3780-2090.

Joey got a huge smile on his face, "Alright! Yugi has just taken a big lead". Tea and Tristan also had smiles on their faces and nodded their head excited.

Yugi looked at his hand before he looked at Weevil, "I now end my turn, so let's see what you can do Weevil".

Weevil narrowed his eyes and drew his next card and looked at it, a smirk appeared on his face, he then grabbed a card in his hand and revealed it and it was Golden Ladybug, "Now by revealing Golden Ladybug, I once again gain 500 life points". Weevil LP: 2090-2590.

Weevil then placed Golden Ladybug back in to his hand revealed while he showed that the card he had just drawn was Mystical Space Typhoon, "And next, I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Big Bang Shot".

Weevil's smirk grew bigger when he saw the troubled expression on Yugi's face, "I see that you know what this means. When Big Bang Shot leaves the field, the monster it was equipped to is removed from the game".

Yugi gritted his teeth troubled and placed Big Bang Shot in to his graveyard before he placed Chaos Command Magician next to his graveyard.

Weevil then grabbed another card in his hand and placed it face down in defense mode, "And next, I place one monster face down and end my turn". A spot in front of him lit up and he turned Golden Ladybug around again.

Yugi placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card, he narrowed his eyes as he looked at Weevil's face down monster, he knew that Weevil had monsters that could destroy his Sentry Soldier of Stone, but he didn't attack him, could it mean that he only had monsters with low attack points or was he after something else?

Yugi revealed the card he had drawn, "Next, I summon my Curse of Dragon in attack mode". A yellow dragon with a long tail without arms or legs appeared on the field with a screech, Atk: 2000.

Yugi looked at the face down monster, it might be a trap, but he still had to attack in order to win, Yugi then pointed at the face down monster, "Now Curse of Dragon, attack his face down monster with Dragon Flame!" Curse of Dragon screeched again before he unleashed a stream of flames from his mouth which enveloped the face down monster.

However after a few seconds, a green monster with red eyes and horns with fangs, and claws on its hands and feet, the bug monster clung to Sentry Soldier of Stone who struggled against it for a few seconds before both of them disappeared.

Yugi had a shocked expression on his face, "You're face down monster was a Man-Eater Bug?" Weevil didn't answer him and just chuckled.

Tea looked at Joey, "What does Man-Eater Bug do?" Tristan also looked at Joey with a confused expression on his face. However Joey just looked at them and shrugged his shoulders, he had no idea either.

Yugi looked at them, "When Man-Eater Bug is changed from face down to face up, you can destroy one monster on the field". The gang got a look of understanding on their faces.

Yugi looked at the cards in his hand before he grabbed one of them, "I end my turn by placing one card face down". The slot behind Curse of Dragon lit up. Yugi then look at Weevil, "It's your turn now Weevil".

Two of the cards in his hand were Silent Swordsman as well as a spell card that could only be used with him, which meant that he couldn't use them right now. He also had the equip spell card Sword of Dark Destruction in his hand and he had just placed the trap card Disgraceful Charity face down. He couldn't use it right now, however he needed to draw just one of three cards he had that would allow him to use it.

Weevil took and drew his next card before he once again grabbed and revealed his Golden Ladybug, Weevil LP: 2590-3090. Weevil then placed Golden Ladybug revealed in his hand and looked at the card he had just drawn.

Weevil revealed the card he had drawn, "Now I summon Armored Bee in attack mode". Armored Bee then appeared on the field, Atk: 1600.

Weevil then pointed at Armored Bee, "And now, he gains a field power bonus from the forest". Armored Bee, Atk & Def: 1600-2080/1200-1560.

Weevil then grabbed another card in his hand and revealed it, "And next, I equip Insect Armor with Laser Cannon to my Armor Bee". The Insect Armor with Laser Cannon then appeared on the Armored Bee, Atk: 2080-2780.

Yugi gritted his teeth, this was the combo that Weevil had used against Rex in the final match of the National Championship, which meant that Yugi knew what Weevil was about to do next.

Weevil then pointed at Curse of Dragon, "And next I activate Armored Bee's special ability, which means that your Curse of Dragon's attack points are cut in half until the end phase of this turn". Armored Bee fired a stinger at Curse of Dragon and it got stuck in his body, caused the dragon to screech in pain, Atk: 2000-1000.

Weevil then held out his hand with a smirk on his face, "And now Armored Bee, attack his Curse of Dragon with your Laser Cannon!" At Weevil's command, Armored Bee aimed his laser cannon at Curse of Dragon and then fired a beam from it that hit the dragon and destroyed him, causing Yugi to shield his face, Yugi LP: 4000-2220.

Joey gritted his teeth when he saw this, "Damn it, that bastard Weevil managed to turn things around".

Tea looked at him, "He might have the advantage right now, however I know that Yugi will beat him, he has to if he's going to save Mr Muto".

Weevil looked at Yugi while he turned around Golden Ladybug, "I end my turn now, now make your move Yugi, even though it won't help you".

Yugi looked at his deck, _He's wrong, I believe in my deck, and I know that it will help me now._ Yugi thought to himself while he placed his fingers on his deck.

"My turn now, I draw". Yugi drew his next card and looked at it. He then revealed the card to be a spell card with the image of an angel with three glowing cards in her hands, "I activate the spell card Graceful Charity, which means I can draw three cards as long as I discard two from my hand".

Yugi drew three more cards and looked at them, he narrowed his eyes, he then grabbed one of them and one of them he had drawn and placed them in his graveyard.

However Yugi then grabbed his face down card and flipped it face up, "And next, I activate Disgraceful Charity, which means that every card was discarded this turn is returned to our hands".

Yugi then grabbed the two cards he had just discarded. He then placed one of them in his hand before he revealed the other card, "And next I summon my Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode".

A giant stone monster that looked pretty similar to Sentry Soldier of Stone appeared on a knee on the field with his right arm in front of him, Atk & Def: 1300-1690/2000-2600.

Yugi then took and grabbed Sentry Soldier of Stone that were in his graveyard and revealed it, "And next, I activate Sentry Soldier of Stone's special ability! Once per turn, if I only have rock monsters on my field, I can special summon Sentry Soldier of Stone from my graveyard".

Sentry Soldier then appeared on a knee next to Giant Soldier of Stone, he then pulled out two stone axes and slammed the handles together. The handles joined together and formed a staff and the blades changes shapes to a bent bow shape, Atk & Def: 1300-1690/2000-2600.

Yugi then looked at his hand and grabbed a card in it, "Now I end my turn by placing this card face down". He placed it face down after saying that and the spot behind Giant Soldier of Stone lit up.

Weevil chuckled, "What's this? Is defending yourself the only thing you can do? Oh well, then I guess that this duel won't last much longer, it's my turn, I draw".

Weevil drew his next card before he once again revealed Golden Ladybug and placed it back in his hand revealed, Weevil LP: 3090-3590. Weevil looked at the card he had just drawn, "I activate Pot of Greed which lets me draw two more cards".

Weevil drew two more cards and looked at them. A smirk appeared on his face, "I have been waiting for this moment". Weevil then placed them in his hand before he grabbed another card in his hand, "Now I activate the spell card Worm Bait, which lets me special summon two Worm Tokens in defense mode". Then two small black and red worms with white faces appeared on the field next to Armored Bee, Def x 2: 0.

Weevil then grabbed one of the cards he had drawn and held it up, "The side effect of Worm Bait is that I can't summon level 3 or 4 monsters, however that's not what I've planned. I now sacrifice one of my Worm Tokens in order to summon my Insect Queen".

One of the tokens disappeared and an insect with a large red lower half and a smaller upper body appeared on the field, Atk: 2200.

Weevil chuckled, "Say hello to the queen of all insects, and thanks to the forest, she's even stronger". Insect Queen, Atk & Def: 2200-2860/2400-3120.

Weevil's smirk then grew bigger as he continued, "And not only that, but she also gains 200 attack points for every insect monster on the field, which means she now gains 600 more points". Insect Queen, Atk: 2860-3460.

Joey gritted his teeth troubled when he saw Insect Queen's attack points, "That freak has 3460 attack points?" That meant that meant that Weevil would be able to destroy both of Yugi's Stone Soldiers.

Weevil then pointed at Sentry Soldier of Stone, "And now, Insect Queen will attack your Sentry Soldier of Stone, however in order for her to attack, I need to sacrifice a monster, so now I sacrifice my Worm Token so my Queen can attack".

Insect Queen then lowered her head and grabbed the Worm Token with her mouth and then to the gangs shock and horror began to slowly devour it, Insect Queen, Atk: 3460-3260.

Insect Queen then unleashed a purple blast of energy towards Sentry Soldier of Stone.

However Weevil then noticed the smirk on Yugi's face. Yugi then grabbed his face down card, "Weevil, by declaring your attack, my face down can be activated".

Weevil got a horrified expression on his face, "No, not another trap card".

Yugi's smirk only grew as he flipped his face down card face up, "That's right, say hello to my Blazing Mirror Force trap card!" A red force field appeared in front of Sentry Soldier of Stone and Insect Queen's attack hit it.

Yugi looked at Weevil who had a worried expression, "Now this card stops your attack and then all your monsters in attack mode will be destroyed and then both of us takes damage equal to half of your destroyed monsters original attack points".

Insect Queen's attack got absorbed by the red barrier before two red beams shot out from it and went straight through Insect Queen and Armored Bee, destroying them both. Yugi LP: 2220-320. Weevil LP: 3590-1690.

The gang had shocked expressions on their faces. Tea then looked at Joey and Tristan, "Why would Yugi use a trap card that took away most of his remaining life points?"

Tristan shrugged his shoulders, no idea either. Both of them then looked at Joey who looked at Yugi while he narrowed his eyes, "I have no idea, but I know that Yugi wouldn't do something like this without a plan in mind". Tea and Tristan calmed down a little when they heard the confidence in Joey's voice and nodded their heads.

Weevil gritted his teeth and looked at his hand before he grabbed a card in it, "I place one card face down and end my turn". He placed it face down on the table and a spot in front of him lit up.

Yugi drew his next card and looked at it before he revealed that it was Pot of Greed, "Now it's my turn to activate Pot of Greed, which means I can draw two more cards".

Yugi drew two more cards and looked at them. He narrowed his eyes before he placed them in his hand before he grabbed another one while he looked at Sentry Soldier of Stone, "I'm sorry about this Sentry Soldier of Stone, but don't worry, you will soon be back".

Yugi revealed a spell card with the image of a massive wok, "Now I activate Mystik Wok, and so by sacrificing my Sentry Soldier of Stone, I'll gain life points equal to his attack or defense points, and I choose his 2600 defense points".

Sentry Soldier of Stone then shattered and Yugi was surrounded by a blue aura, Yugi LP: 320-2920. Yugi then pointed at Giant Soldier of Stone, "And next, since I have Giant Soldier of Stone, I can bring back Sentry Soldier of Stone in attack mode". Sentry Soldier of Stone then once again reappeared on the field and joined together his axes once again, Atk & Def: 1300-1690/2000-2600.

Yugi then grabbed Giant Soldier of Stone's card, "And next, I switch my Giant Soldier of Stone to attack mode". Giant Soldier of Stone then rose up on his feet next to Sentry Soldier of Stone.

Yugi narrowed his eyes while he looked at Weevil's face down card, _Weevil only has 1690 life points left, which means that either of my Stone Soldiers will be able to wipe out his life points, which means that his face down card will activate the moment I declare an attack, that I know. So if it is a card that will destroy all of my monsters, than I should wait to summon another monster until after I know what it is_. Yugi had drawn another monster that he could summon, but decided to play it safe for now.

Yugi pointed at Weevil, "Now Sentry Soldier of Stone, attack his life points directly!" Sentry Soldier swung his weapon at Weevil's platform.

However Weevil flipped his face down card face up and it was a trap card with the image of three dark spiders coming out of a large white egg, "Not so fast, I now activate my trap card Spider Egg! Now if you declare an direct attack while I have three or more insect monsters in my graveyard, I negate the attack and then I can special summon three Spider Tokens in attack mode". A large white egg appeared in front of Weevil and blocked Sentry Soldier of Stone's attack and then it got divided in to three pieces and became three spiders, Atk x 3: 100.

Yugi raised an eyebrow, he had expected it to be a card to either prevent him from attacking or that it would destroy his monsters. However not only could he still attack, but Weevil had just summoned three weak tokens in attack mode.

Yugi then pointed at Weevil's first Spider Token, "Giant Soldier of Stone, attack his first Spider Token". At Yugi's command, Giant Soldier of Stone pulled out the stone sword he had on his back and slashed the first Spider Token and destroyed it, Weevil LP: 1690-100.

Yugi then looked at his hand and then grabbed one of the two cards he had just drawn, "I end my turn by summoning Komori Dragon in attack mode". Komori Dragon then appeared on the field with a roar, Atk: 1500.

Weevil looked at his hand troubled since he only had two cards in his hand right now, one being Golden Ladybug and the other one he couldn't even use right now, which meant that unless he drew a monster or a spell or trap that could save him, he would have to summon Golden Ladybug to defend himself.

Weevil moved his hand towards his deck with a nervous expression on his face, however his hand stopped over it when he heard Yugi's voice, "I expected more from you Weevil".

Weevil looked up with a shocked and angry expression on his face and saw that Yugi was looking at him with a confused expression on his face, "And what's that supposed to mean Yugi?"

Yugi just slightly narrowed his eyes before he spoke with thoughtful tone, "Well, I just think that you should be stronger than this if you are the National Champion". Weevil gritted his teeth when he heard that.

Joey narrowed his eyes thoughtful when he heard what Yugi said, "You know, Yugi is right, I mean, he recklessly attacked even though Yugi had placed a card face down just the turn before, even an amateur like me would've at least suspected that it was a trap card, and I doubt that the National Champion would do such a simple mistake".

Yugi looked at Weevil with a suspicious expression, "You always seemed to have a pretty good counter for any of your opponent's deck, which made me think that you had a deck that prepared for most opponents, however, could it be that you managed to learn what your opponent would use, and then either prepare your deck or mess with their decks?" The frustrated expression that appeared on his face told them that Yugi had hit the bullseye

Joey got a frustrated expression on his face, "Hold on, you mean he won most of those matches by cheating? I should've guessed that considering what he did on the boat".

Weevil looked at Joey with a smirk, "I don't think of it as cheating, to me, it's more like preparing ahead of time". Tea, Tristan and Joey gritted their teeth in anger after hearing Weevil say that.

Weevil then looked at Yugi who glared at him and continued, "Now that this annoying conversation is over, let's continue, it's my turn". He then drew his next card before he once again revealed Golden Ladybug before placing it revealed in his hand, Weevil LP: 100-600.

Weevil looked at the card he had just drawn, he then placed it face down in defense mode, "Now place one monster face down in defense mode and then I end my turn by switching both of my Spider Tokens to defense mode". The spot next to one of the Spider Tokens lit up and then both of the Spider Tokens went in to defense mode, Def x 2: 100.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "It's my move then, I draw". Yugi drew his next card and saw that he had drawn his Swords of Revealing Light. He knew that he didn't need it right now since Weevil didn't have anything strong enough to attack him.

Yugi placed his Sword of Revealing Light in his hand, he then pointed at one of his Spider Tokens, "Now Komori Dragon, attack his second Spider Token". Komori Dragon opened his mouth and unleashed a stream of flames that hit the Spider Token and destroyed it.

Yugi then pointed at the third Spider Token, "And next, Sentry Soldier of Stone, attack his final Spider Token". Sentry Soldier of Stone slammed his weapon in to the third Spider Token and destroyed it.

Yugi then looked at Giant Soldier of Stone, "Alright Giant Soldier of Stone, attack his face down monster now". Giant Soldier of Stone lifted his sword and slammed it in to the lit up spot. However what looked like a leech appeared and then jumped up and wrapped itself around Giant Soldier of Stone before it took and pushed the top of its tail in to his head.

Weevil chuckled when he saw Yugi's shocked expression, "The face down monster was Kiseitai, if this card is attacked while face down, it becomes equipped to the monster that attacked it, then during each one of your standby phases I'll gain life points equal to half of the equipped monster's attack points".

Yugi gritted his teeth frustrated. He knew that unless he got rid of Giant Soldier of Stone, Weevil would just keep gaining life points from him. Yugi looked at his hand, the only two cards he could use right now was Swords of Revealing Light which wouldn't help him that much right now, after that he had the ritual monster Magician of Chaos in his hand, which he couldn't use right now anyway.

Yugi looked at Weevil, "I end my turn, now make your move Weevil". He didn't like the situation he was in right now, if Weevil drew a card that was powerful enough, he would be in trouble.

Weevil then placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn, I draw". Weevil drew his next card before he once again revealed Golden Ladybug and placed it back in his hand revealed, Weevil LP: 600-1100.

Weevil looked at the card he had just drawn and a smirk appeared on his face, "Alright, now I summon my Petit Moth in defense mode", a small green larvae then appeared on the field, Atk & Def: 300-390/200-260.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, _He just summoned a Petit Moth? Anyone of my three monsters can easily crush it and then the other two can wipe out the rest of his life points._

Yami appeared next to Yugi with a cautious expression on his face, _"Don't let your guard down Yugi, I'm sure Weevil has something else planned in mind since he also knows that you can easily destroy his Petit Moth"_. Yugi looked at Yami slightly and saw the cautious expression on his face. He looked at Weevil and nodded the confident expression on his face. Yugi narrowed his eyes and realized that Yami was right, Weevil had something else planned as well.

Weevil grabbed the remaining unknown card in his hand, "And next, I equip my Petit Moth with the terrifying Cocoon of Evolution". Yugi and the others then watched in shock as Petit Moth wrapped itself inside of a pink cocoon, Def: 2000-2600.

Joey narrowed his eyes, "Hold on, what's going on? Why did Petit Moth get wrapped in to that cocoon?" Tea and Tristan looked at each other, neither of them had no idea either.

However at that moment they heard a confident laugh behind them. All three of them turned around and both Joey and Tristan blushed when they saw Mai Valentine coming towards them.

Mai looked at the duel with a smirk, more correctly, she looked at Yugi, "Well well, it looks like little Yugi is in trouble now, after all, if he doesn't destroy Cocoon of Evolution soon enough, then he'll have to face Weevil's strongest monster".

Tea gritted her teeth over the flirty tone Mai had used when she said little Yugi, however she ignored that since she was concerned about what had said after that, "What do you mean his strongest monster? What kind of monster is that?"

However Mai didn't answer and just walked past Tea and looked at Yugi with interest, "If we're lucky, maybe we'll get to see it". Tea, Tristan and Joey looked at each other, because unlike Mai, the three of them hoped that Weevil WOULDN'T be able to summon the monster she was talking about.

Weevil chuckled when he saw Yugi's concerned expression, "I can see that you knows what this means, and you're right Yugi. After now six turns has passed, I can special summon my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth".

Yugi gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes, _If he managed to summon his Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, or even just its fourth turn form, I'll be in trouble, however in order to summon either form of his Great Moth, he needs to draw them first_.

Weevil then grabbed Golden Ladybug and turned it around, "I end my turn, it's your now Yugi".

Yugi gritted his teeth since he knew what would happen the moment after he drew his next card, however he couldn't do anything about it. Yugi then took and drew his next card and looked at it, then he heard a groan from Giant Soldier of Stone as Kiseitai drained him of some energy, Weevil LP: 1100-1945.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, the card he had drawn was Polymerization, which was useless for him right now, Yugi placed the card in his hand, "I can't do anything, so I end my turn".

Weevil chuckled satisfied when he heard that and drew his next card before he once again revealed Golden Ladybug in his hand, Weevil LP: 1945-2445.

Weevil looked at the card he had just drawn, before he placed it in his hand, "Now there is only four turns left before I can summon my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, so prepare yourself to face a monster unlike anything you have ever seen before".

Weevil then grabbed Golden Ladybug and turned it around, "I end my turn, so make your move Yugi".

Yugi was troubled, he knew that Weevil was trying to make the turns go so that he would eventually draw either forms of his Great Moth, Yugi knew that he had to destroy that Cocoon of Evolution soon or he would be in serious trouble.

Yugi drew his next card and Giant Soldier of the Stone groaned in pain as more of his energy was drained, Weevil LP: 2445-3290.

Joey gritted his teeth, "Damn it! That damn bug Weevil has almost regained all of his life points due to his two monsters abilities". He hoped that Yugi would be able to get rid of Giant Soldier of Stone since that would also get rid of Kiseitai.

Yugi looked at the card he had drawn and a smile appeared on his face, "Alright, now to the special rules, I summon my Catapult Turtle in defense mode without sacrificing anything".

A large mechanical looking turtle with a launching pad on his back appeared on the field, Def: 2000.

Yugi looked at Giant Soldier of Stone with a troubled expression, "Sorry about this Stone Soldier, but I can't let him gain more life points by draining them from you".

Yugi grabbed Giant Soldier of Stone's card and held it up, "Once per turn, I can sacrifice one monster on my field in order to inflict half of that monster's attack points to my opponent as direct damage, and by sacrificing my Giant Soldier of Stone, I'll also get rid of your Kiseitai".

Giant Soldier of Stone then vanished for a second before he appeared on top on Catapult Turtle. Catapult Turtle then growled as the launch pad was activated and sent Giant Soldier of Stone who turned in an orb of energy towards Weevil and hit his platform, sending him flying in to the railing behind him, Weevil LP: 3290-2445.

Yugi then grabbed both Komori Dragon and Sentry Soldier of Stone, "Next I put both my Sentry Soldier and Komori Dragon in to defense mode". Sentry Soldier of Stone went down on a knee with his weapon in front of himself and Komori Dragon lowered his head, Def: 1200.

Yugi looked at Weevil, "And with that, I end my turn, so make your move Weevil".

Weevil narrowed his eyes before he drew his next card before he once again placed Golden Ladybug revealed in his hand, Weevil LP: 2445-2945. Weevil looked at the card and then placed it face down, "I place one card face down and then I end my turn". The spot behind Cocoon of Evolution lit up and Weevil turned Golden Ladybug around.

Yugi placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn then". He drew his next card and looked at it, a smile then appeared on his face, "Now I sacrifice my Komori Dragon in order to summon Dark Magician in attack mode". Komori Dragon then vanished and Dark Magician then appeared, Atk: 2500.

Weevil got a shocked expression on his face for a second before a smirk appeared on his face, "You have a Dark Magician huh? That's quite a powerful rare card, I can't wait until it's mine".

Yugi narrowed his eyes and grabbed a card in his hand, "Not gonna happen! Next I equip him with the spell card Sword of Dark Destruction., which will increase his attack points by 400 but also decrease his defense points by 200".

A demonic looking sword with a red blade appeared in Dark Magician's left hand, Atk & Def: 2500-2900/2100-1900.

Weevil widened his eyes in shock, "2900 attack points?! He's stronger than my Cocoon of Evolution now!" Yugi however ignored Weevil and just looked at his face down card, he was sure that it were a trap card that would stop his attack, however he had no choice but to try and attack.

Yugi pointed at Cocoon of Evolution, "Now Dark Magician, attack his Cocoon of Evolution". Dark Magician crossed his staff and the Sword of Dark Destruction while dark energy gathered around the red blade while magical energy gathered at the top of the staff.

However Weevil flipped his face down card face up with a smirk, "Not so fast, I activate my trap card Nightmare Wheel". Suddenly two cuffs got wrapped around Dark Magician's wrists and pulled him up on a wheel with a large skeleton head behind it with its jaws opened.

Yugi got a shocked expression on his face before he looked at Weevil who chuckled, "Now as long as your Dark Magician is trapped in my Nightmare Wheel, he can't change his position or attack, also during each one of my standby phases, you'll lose 500 life points. However if your Dark Magician leaves the field, then Nightmare Wheel will be destroyed".

Yugi gritted his teeth when he heard that, he looked at the cards in his hand, he didn't have anything that could destroy the Nightmare Wheel right now, he could use Catapult Turtle's special ability to destroy Dark Magician in order to get rid of Nightmare Wheel and to inflict 1450 points of damage to Weevil, however he didn't want to do that to his Dark Magician.

He then looked at his Magician of Chaos, he wanted to try and summon him, however he needed another card before he could do that, which meant that he needed to wait.

Yugi then grabbed and held up Sentry Soldier of Stone, "Now I activate the special ability of my Catapult Turtle once again, so by sacrificing Sentry Soldier of Stone, you'll take damage equal to half of his attack points".

Sentry Soldier of Stone then disappeared and then reappeared on the launching pad on Catapult Turtle's back before it launched him and he turned in to an orb of energy that then hit Weevil's platform, forcing Weevil to grab a hold of the platform in order to endure the shockwaves, Weevil LP: 2945-2100.

Yugi then looked at Weevil, "And with that, I end my turn, so make your move Weevil".

Weevil narrowed his eyes, "It's my move then, I draw'. He drew his next card and looked at it, then he once again placed Golden Ladybug revealed in his hand, Weevil LP: 2100-2600.

The Wheel that Dark Magician was pinned to then began spinning against his back, causing him to groan in pain, Yugi LP: 2920-2420.

Weevil looked at the card he had drawn, he narrowed his eyes before he looked at Yugi, "Now it's only three turns left before I can summon my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, but for now, I'll just wait, so I end my turn". After saying that, Weevil turned Golden Ladybug around.

Yugi placed his fingers on his deck, "Alright, I draw". Yugi drew his next card and looked at it, "Now I summon my Big Shield Gardna in attack mode". Big Shield Gardna then appeared on the field with his shield at his side, Atk: 100.

Weevil narrowed his eyes, "Why would you summon such a weak monster in attack mode?" Weevil was feeling really suspicious about this.

Yugi then grabbed another card in his hand, "Next, I sacrifice my Big Shield Gardna in order to special summon Silent Swordsman in attack mode". Big Shield Gardna disappeared and a warrior with blue and silver armor with a large sword appeared on the field, Atk: 1000.

Yugi then grabbed one of his remaining three cards in his hand and placed it face down, "Next, I end my turn by placing one card face down". The spot behind Silent Swordsman then lit up as his turn ended.

Weevil looked at Silent Swordsman with a suspicious expression on his face, he was sure that Silent Swordsman must have some kind of special ability, however he wasn't sure what it was.

Weevil then took and drew his next card before he once again placed Golden Ladybug revealed in his hand, Weevil LP: 2600-3100. The Nightmare Wheel then began to spin once again, Yugi LP: 2420-1920.

However at that moment, Silent Swordsman got surrounded by a bright aura, Atk: 1000-1500.

Weevil got a shocked expression on his face before he looked at Yugi, "Why did your Swordsman just gain attack points?"

Yugi got a smirk on his face, "During each one of our standby phases, Silent Swordsman gains 500 attack points". Weevil gritted his teeth troubled when he heard that, that meant that during Yugi's standby phase, Silent Swordsman's attack points would become 2000, then during his next standby phase, he would have 2500. After Yugi's second standby phase from now Silent Swordsman would be powerful enough to destroy his Cocoon of Evolution, which meant that he wouldn't be able to summon his Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth.

Weevil looked at the card he had just drawn, "Now I summon my Leghul in attack mode". A small purple centipede appeared on the field, Atk & Def: 300-390/350-455.

Weevil then grabbed the other remaining unknown card in his hand, "And next, I activate the equip spell Lev. 2 Power Boost to my Leghul in order to increase his attack by 1200 and his defense by 200". Two turbines then appeared on the back of Leghul, Atk & Def: 390-1590/455-655.

Weevil then pointed at Yugi, "And next thanks to Leghul's special ability, he can attack your life points directly, now go Leghul". Leghul then jumped up in the air above Yugi's monster and unleashed strong winds from the turbines on his back that hit Yugi's platform, Yugi LP: 1920-330.

Weevil let out a chuckle as he looked at Yugi with a confident smirk on his face, "Now you're in trouble, unless you either get rid of my Nightmare Wheel or your Dark Magician, you'll lose the rest of your life points during my next standby phase, I end my turn now". He turned around his Golden Ladybug as his turn ended.

Tea got a worried expression, "Oh no! Yugi must get rid of Dark Magician as soon as possible". For her, the best way she could see would be using Catapult Turtle to get rid of Dark Magician and inflict some more damage.

However Joey shook his head, "I don't think he's gonna do that. I can tell by looking at his face that he's got something planned, only he's not able to do it right now, I guess he's missing a card or something like that, however as long as he believes in his deck, I know that it will answer him and give him the card he need".

However they heard a mocking laugh next to them after he said that. They looked at Mai who looked at them with a mocking smirk on her face, "You can't be serious, by believing in his deck, it will answer him? Drawing cards are just based on luck".

However Joey just narrowed his eyes and turned back to the duel, he couldn't wait to see Mai's expression after Yugi proved her wrong.

Yugi looked at his deck with a serious expression, he knew that unless he drew Chaos Form or one of his spell or trap destruction cards he would have to use Catapult Turtle's effect on Dark Magician. However he had faith, _I know that my deck will answer me, come on heart of the cards, guide me_.

Yugi placed his fingers on his deck and slowly drew his next card and Silent Swordsman was once again surrounded by a bright aura, Atk: 1500-2000.

Yugi then looked at the card he had drawn. A smile appeared on his face, he then turned around the spell card and it was a spell card with the image of chains coming out of an orb of dark energy, "Now I activate the Ritual spell card Chaos Form, so now by sacrificing my Dark Magician, I can Ritual Summon Magician of Chaos in attack mode".

Dark Magician then broke free from the cuffs around his hands and then jumped in to a magical circle that appeared on the ground, chains then flew down in to the magical circle and up came a magician in dark blue and purple robes wrapped in chains, Atk: 2500.

However Magician of Chaos then got surrounded by a purple aura before he snapped the chains surrounding him.

Yugi looked at Weevil, "By tapping into the power of chaos, Dark Magician has reached a new level of power, also since Dark Magician has left the field, your Nightmare Wheel is also gone". Weevil gritted his teeth and then placed his Nightmare Wheel in his graveyard.

Yugi then pointed at Leghul, "Now Magician of Chaos, attack his Leghul with Chaos Force".

Magician of Chaos held out his want while a magical circle appeared around his feet, dark blue energy gathered at the top of his staff and he unleashed a magical blast from his staff that hit Leghul and destroyed him, Weevil LP: 3100-2190.

Yugi then looked at Weevil with a smirk, "And with that, I end my turn, so make your move Weevil".

Weevil narrowed his eyes with suspicion, _Why didn't Yugi use his Catapult Turtle to sacrifice one of his monsters in order to inflict more damage to me?_ He didn't understand why Yugi hadn't since he would've sacrificed Magician of Chaos in order to inflict more damage if he had been in Yugi's situation.

Weevil placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my move now", he drew his next card before he once again placed Golden Ladybug revealed in his hand, Weevil LP: 2190-2690. Silent Swordsman then once again got surrounded by a bright aura, Atk: 2000-2500.

Weevil looked at his hand and gritted his teeth, the card he had drawn was his Flying Kamakiri #1 which wouldn't help him, which meant that he only had once choice to make now if he wanted to have a chance to win this duel.

Weevil grabbed a card in his hand, "Now since it's been four turns since my Cocoon of Evolution appeared, I can sacrifice it in order to special summon Great Moth from my hand".

The cocoon then cracked opened and a massive green moth with a horn on its head appeared out of it, Atk & Def: 2600-3380/2300-2500-3250.

Joey got a worried expression on his face, "His Moth didn't reach his final evolution but it still has 3380 attack points thanks to the field power bonus?" If Weevil attacked either Yugi's Silent Swordsman or his Magician of Chaos, Yugi would lose the rest of his life points.

Weevil chuckled with a cruel smirk on his face, "Well, this wasn't the way I planned to win, however I guess this will have to do, "Now Great Moth, attack his Silent Swordsman with Moth Hurricane". Winds started gathering at Great Moth's wings.

However Yugi flipped his face down card face up and it was a spell card with an image of Silent Swordsman slashing with his sword.

"Not so fast, I activate the spell card Silent Sword Slash! Now a Silent Swordsman monster on my field gains 1500 attack and defense points and he's also unaffected by card effects during the turn I activate Silent Sword Slash".

Weevil's eyes widened in shock when he heard that and saw Silent Swordsman slash with his sword a few times, Atk & Def: 2500-4000/1000-2500, "No! Now he's more powerful than my Great Moth!"

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "That's right, and while I could allow him to destroy your Great Moth, I had a plan for this situation. Now I activate Magician of Chaos's special ability, once per turn if a spell, trap or monster's special ability is activated, I can target one card on the field and destroy it, and I choose your Great Moth!"

Magician of Chaos then unleashed a blast of dark blue magical energy that hit Great Moth and destroyed him.

Weevil's arms fell to his sides, he was in a state of shock, "No way, my Great Moth, my previous Great Moth was…"

Weevil then looked at his hand, "I… I summon my Flying Kamakiri #1 in defense mode". A large green insect with four wings, four arms and two legs that appeared on a knee with its arms crossed, Atk & Def: 1400-1820/900-1170.

Yugi placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn, I draw". Yugi drew his next card and Silent Swordsman got surrounded by a bright aura, Atk: 4000-4500.

Yugi looked at the card and narrowed his eyes, he knew that he could end this by simply attack with his monsters, however he wanted to make Weevil pay for what he did on the boat.

Yugi then pointed at Flying Kamakiri #1, "And now I activate Magician of Chaos's special ability! Since my Silent Swordsman's special ability was activated, I can destroy your Flying Kamakiri #1". Magician of Chaos then unleashed a blast of magical energy towards Flying Kamakiri and destroyed him.

Weevil lowered his head, "If Flying Kamakiri #1 had been destroyed in battle, I could've special summoned a wind type monster with 1500 or less attack points in attack mode from my deck".

Yugi looked at him with a serious expression, "It wouldn't have saved you anyway Weevil, now Silent Swordsman, attack his life points directly with Silent Sword Slash". Silent Swordsman swung with his sword before he rushed towards Weevil and slammed his sword in to his platform, Weevil LP: 2690-0.

Weevil sank down on his knees with a disbelieving look in his eyes, "I can't believe this, I refuse to believe that I lost".

However Joey, Tristan and Tea was cheering loudly while Mai stared at Yugi with a shocked expression since she hadn't believed that Yugi would be able to defeat Weevil.

A while later Yugi and the gang was standing in front of Weevil who still had a expression of disbelief on his face, "But I'm the National Champion, the National Champion! I'm supposed to win this whole tournament and get the glory of being the first one to beat the creator of Duel Monsters".

Yugi looked at him with a serious expression, "And that's where we're different, you only fight for yourself, however we're fighting for people we care about, and that gives us strength". Yugi then revealed the three star chips in his hand, his own plus the two he had just won from Weevil before he began placing them in to his glove.

Weevil looked at Yugi with a look of despair on his face, "No, this can't be happening?" He just refused to believe that he had lost.

Joey who had had enough walked over to Weevil and looked down at him, "Stop complaining Underwood, you lost! Now get away from here and prepare to be sent home, but before that…"

Joey grabbed Weevil's glove and pulled it off of his arm before he placed it on his right arm, "I'll be taking this glove". He then placed his star chip in it.

A while later Yugi and the others got out of the forest, Yugi then stopped and looked at the castle, _"We now have three star chips, but we still need to win seven more in order to get in to that castle"_.

Yami appeared next to him and also looked at the castle, _"We will get ten star chips and get in to the castle and then we will win our way through the finals and face Pegasus, and once we beat him, grandpa will be back"._ Yugi nodded his head in agreement since he wasn't going to let anything stop him from saving his grandfather.


	5. The first duel

Yu-Gi-Oh! Rise of a Legend

Chapter 5

Yugi and his friends were walking across the island. It had now been a little over an hour since Yugi's duel against Weevil and a bunch of Duel Arenas had appeared since then and a lot of duels were going on.

Two boys suddenly noticed Yugi and the gang, one of them who had spiky brown hair pointed at Yugi, "Hey, let's face that guy over there, he doesn't look so tough, I think that he will be easy to beat".

The other boy who had black hair looked at his friend like he had grown a second head, "You're kidding right? Do you really not know who that is? That short guy is Yugi Muto!"

The brown haired boy's jaw fell down and looked his friend, "Y-you're kidding right? That's the guy that beat the undefeated Seto Kaiba?" He said with a tone of disbelief before he looked at Yugi again who looked at them since he and the gang had heard their conversation.

The black haired boy nodded his head and looked at Yugi as well, "That's right, and that's not all, Weevil Underwood, the National Champion was the first one to be knocked out of the tournament because of him".

The brown haired boy took a step backwards after hearing what his friend had said, "You know, I changed my mind, he's way too strong for us to take on, so let's leave him and his group alone and let's find someone that's on our level". His friend nodded his head as he agreed with him since he didn't want to get eliminated from the tournament so early and both of them turned around and walked away.

Tristan got a smirk on his face as he watched the boys leave, "That's the third time this have happen now". He found it funny how every duelist they met ran away the moment they saw Yugi since he was most likely the strongest duelist on this island and they knew that they would just lose if they fought him.

Tea looked at Tristan with a troubled expression, "Tristan, that's a bad thing you know. Yugi and Joey need to face other duelists so that they can win 10 star chips and enter the castle, however they won't be able to do that if everyone run away the moment they see Yugi". Tristan got a troubled expression on his face when heard that since he knew that Tea was right.

Yugi looked at them with a smile on his face, "Don't worry about that, we will get 10 star chips each and we will get in to the castle, we can't afford to lose, I need to save grandpa and Joey need the prize money so he can pay for his sister's eye surgery".

Joey nodded his head before he looked at Yugi's backpack, "You said that you would bring with you extra cards so we could change the decks a little between the duels".

Yugi nodded his head, "Yeah, the rules of the tournament might say that we are only allowed to use 40 cards during a duel, however the rules also said that we're allowed to bring with us extra cards if we wanted to. However we are only allowed to change our decks between duels and not right before one, also if someone tries to challenge someone who is changing their deck then they will have to wait until they're finished without stressing them. Of course there is a limit of extra cards that we're allowed to bring, max 60 cards".

Yugi then got a serious expression on his face, "However before that, I want Joey to have his first duel so we can see what kind of changes his deck might need". Joey nodded his head. He also knew that that would be the best way to see what kind of change his deck might need.

At that moment they heard a loud and arrogant voice, "Come on already you loser, hand over the star chips and get lost!"

Tea got an irritated expression on her face, "That annoying voice can only belong to…" All of them agreed with her unfinished sentence and follow the sound of the voice and saw that it was indeed Mai who was laughing while she placed two star chips in to her Duel Glow.

Her opponent, a boy with dark blue glared at her, "Tell me! How did you know what your cards were when you had them face down and couldn't see them through the entire duel?"

Mai looked at him with a mocking smile, "Well, that my friend, is a se-cr-et!" She winked after saying that and the boy walked away with a frustrated expression.

Mai looked at the four star chips in her glow, "Now I'm closer to winning the prize". She laughed again, however she got quiet the moment she saw Yugi and his friends looking at her.

Joey looked at her shocked, "Amazing, Mai have already won two more star chips, which means that she has one more than you Yugi". Yugi nodded his head, since he had given Joey one of his star chips, he had only three after winning Weevil's two star chips.

Mai got a smirk on her face as she looked at Yugi and Joey before he walked over to them and gave Yugi a charming smile, "Hello there Yugi, how is it going with the duels?"

Yugi's cheeks got a little red, "I-it's going pretty good actually, thanks for asking". He wasn't very good at handling women since he had never really been popular with girls during his school life.

Tea glared at both Yugi and Mai while they were talking and she got really irritated when Mai suddenly grabbed Yugi's hand and looked at his glove, "That's right, you have three star chips since you beat Weevil right? Maybe we should have a duel?" Mai said while having a smile on her face.

Yugi was shocked over that Mai wanted to duel him right now, however then got nervous when he felt killing intent behind him, he looked over his shoulder and saw Tea right behind him.

"Beat her, make her use the special rules so she beats all four of her star chips and then crush her and send her off the island". Tea whispered with a low murderous tone, making Yugi even more nervous

Mai then let go off Yugi's hand, "Alright, I have decided who I'm going to duel now, and it's…" A smirk then appeared on Mai's face as she pointed at Joey, "You Wheeler".

Yugi, Tea and Tristan looked at Joey shocked while an equally shocked Joey pointed at himself, "Huh? You challenge me? Didn't you say that you wanted to duel Yugi?"

Mai chuckled, "What's wrong? Do you want to run away?"

Joey closed his eyes and chuckled to try and hide the fact that he was nervous, "I'm glad that you acknowledging me". However he then got a shocked expression on his face when he hears Mai laugh and looks at her confused.

Mai looks at him with smirk and then speaks with a mocking tone, "Don't get me wrong, as a duelist, I would rather face Yugi, however if I were to lose I would lose my star chips and then it would be all over for me, which is why I first plan on winning more star chips from weaker duelists, and I happened to hear you and Yugi talk on the boat so I know you're only here because he gave one of his star chips to you for some reason, which means you must be the weakest duelist on this island".

Joey narrowed his eyes while he had an insulted expression on his face, "You're actually insulting someone who got to the top 8 like that?"

Tea leaned towards him, "However, it was only the top 8 of your own neighborhood right?" Joey got a troubled expression on his face after Tea whispered that to him.

Tea looked at Joey worried, "Joey, this woman is too tough for you, please don't face her first". She was worried that Joey would get knocked out of the tournament right away if he faced Mai.

Tristan nodded his head as he looked at Joey, "That's right, don't you realize that you will be out of the tournament if you lose to her?" He knew how much this meant for Joey, a chance to help his sister, so he didn't want Joey to lose that chance because of his pride.

Tea looked at Yugi, "Yugi please, accept this duel in Joey's place". She begged him, knowing that he would be able to beat Mai.

Yugi looked between Mai and Joey, he closed his eyes for a few seconds before he looked at Joey, "Joey, I know you want to… no, you NEED to prove her wrong, so I won't stand in your way, show her your strength". Tea and Tristan got shocked expressions on their faces when they heard Yugi say that.

Joey got a smile on his face and nodded his head, "I knew that you would understand Yugi, I need accept this duel, if I decided to run away now just because I didn't think I could win, how would I ever be able to face my sister even if I win my way through this tournament? Also how would I ever be able to face gramps who helped me train?"

Tea looked down with a little embarrassed expression on her face since she hadn't thought about that part. Tristan looked at Joey, "I see Joey, I'm sorry for trying to get you to reject this duel, however, if you accept it then you must win it, I won't forgive you if you lose".

Joey nodded with a smirk on his face, he then turned towards Mai, "Alright Mai, I accept your challenge". Mai just chuckled and turned around and walked towards the blue platform on the Duel Arena while Joey walked towards the red platform and both of them got lifted up.

Tristan, Tea and Yugi looked at Joey with serious expressions, hoping that he would be able to win this duel despite being in a disadvantage.

Mai then took out a star chip from her Duel Glove, "Since you only have one star chip, I'll only beat one myself".

Joey narrowed his eyes as he looked around, _We're on a meadow field right now with a forest not far behind us, which means that both my warriors, beasts and beast warriors will have the advantage here._ Joey thought to himself relieved however the moment the holographic display system got activated so did he get shocked when he saw a big piece of his field was covered by mountains.

"What's going on here? Why are all those mountains on my side of the field?"

Mai chuckled, "You fool, this field is 40% mountains, 40% forest and the left over 20% is meadow". Mai explained with a satisfied smirk.

Joey gritted his teeth, he had noticed an especially satisfied tone in Mai's voice when she mentioned the mountains, which made him think she must be using monsters that would gain a field power bonus from the mountains.

Joey then heard Yugi call out to him, "Calm down Joey, remember that your monsters will still gain a field power bonus from the part of the field that's meadow". Joey looked at Yugi and nodded his head, now feeling a little calmer.

Joey then turned towards Mai with a serious expression, "Hey Mai, before we begin, can I ask you a question?" Mai got a confused expression on her face when she heard that, and Joey continued, "Why did you join this tournament? Did you do it for the fame or the prize money?"

A smirk appeared on Mai's face, "Both! Of course if I win the prize money I'll travel the world, maybe even buy a house in France, I would buy all kind of luxuries!" Mai's voice was filled with excitement as she was talking about what she would do with the money.

Joey looked at her shocked for a few seconds before he got a smirk on his face and let out a mocking chuckle, "Seriously? You want the prize money just to waste it on useless things like that?"

Mai glared at him when she heard his mocking remark, "What hell is that supposed to mean? Then for what reason did YOU come to this island then loser?"

Joey looked at her with a serious expression, ignoring her insult, "I came here to protect something, something that's more important to me than my own life, but I doubt you would ever understand Valentine". Mai narrowed her eyes confused when she heard Joey say that with a serious tone.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "Show her the difference in your values Joey, show her what someone who fights with his heart duels". Yugi had faith that Joey would win, and he hoped that Mai would learn something from this duel.

Joey nodded his head and then both he and Mai drew their first five cards. Joey then placed his fingers on his deck, "I'll make the first move". Mai nodded her head and Joey drew his sixth card and looked at it.

Joey placed the card in his hand and then grabbed another card, "I'll start things by summoning Alligator's Sword in attack mode". Alligator's Sword then appeared on the field, Atk: 1500.

Joey then got a smirk on his face, "And thanks to the meadow field, he'll gain a field power bonus". Alligator's Sword, Atk & Def: 1500-1950/1200-1560.

Joey then looked at Mai, "And with that I end my turn, it's your move now Mai". He felt that he had gotten a pretty good start to this duel.

Mai's smirk only grew bigger as she drew her sixth card and then she closed her eyes as she placed it face down in front of her next to her other cards and begun humming while moving her right arm over her cards.

Joey stared at her in disbelief, "What the heck are you doing?"

Mai opened her eyes and looked at Joey with a smirk still on her lips, "Foreseeing my cards, I'm predicting which one of them would be the best one to play right now".

Joey's eyes widened when he heard Mai explain what she was doing, "Give me a break! There is no way that you can do that". He was sure that she were just trying to trick him.

Mai was moving her index finger over the cards until she stopped over the third one from the right and opened her eyes, "And the card I choose is… Harpie Lady 1". A female monster in a purple bodysuit with long red hair, pointy ears, with green wings on her arms with claws for hands and bird feet, Atk: 1300.

Mai pointed at Harpie Lady 1, "And thanks to the mountain field, she gains a field power bonus". Harpie Lady 1, Atk & Def: 1300-1690/ 1400-1820.

Joey who had gotten shocked over the fact that Mai had known what her card was while it had been placed face down without even looking at it was calming down a little, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but my Alligator's Sword is still stronger".

Mai's smirk grew bigger, "As long as this card remain face up on the field, all wind attribute monsters gains 300 attack points". The moment after Mai said that, winds started moving around Harpie Lady 1, Atk: 1690-1990. Joey's eyes widened when he saw this since Harpie Lady one was now stronger than his Alligator's Sword.

Mai then moved her hand to the second card from the left and revealed it as a spell card with the image of a whip, "And now since Harpie Lady 1 is always treated as Harpie Lady, I equip her with the Rose Whip spell card, increasing her attack and defense points by 300". A whip appeared in Harpie Lady 1's right clawed hand, Atk x Def: 1990-2290/1820-2120.

Mai then pointed at Alligator's Sword, "Now Harpie Lady 1, attack Alligator's Sword with Whip Lash!" Harpie Lady 1 swung with the whip once before she sent it towards Alligator's Sword and hit him, destroying him, Joey LP: 4000-3660.

Mai chuckled as she looked at the shocked Joey, "That's what happen when you just leave a weak monster like that without any protection, I end my turn now Wheeler".

Joey gritted his teeth, "I… I draw". He drew his next card and saw that he had drawn a black dragon called Pitch-Dragon, however since it was a monster with only 900 attack points, it couldn't defeat Harpie Lady 1. Unfortunately no other monster in his hand that he could summon could beat her either. Which meant that all he could do right now was try defending himself, and he had the perfect monster in his hand for that right now.

Joey placed Pitch-Dark Dragon in his hand before he grabbed a other card in his hand, "I place a monster face down in defense mode and then I'll end my turn". A monster zone then lit up in front of Joey as he said that.

Mai laughed when she heard that, "You're trying to hide from my Harpie Lady now? Sorry but you won't be able to hide". Mai then closed her eyes as she drew her next card while she was humming, her smirk then grew bigger.

"Next, I summon my Cyber Harpie Lady in attack mode". Another Harpie Lady appeared on the field, only most of its body was covered in armor, Atk & Def: 1800-2340/1300-1690.

Mai then pointed at Harpie Lady 1, "And now Harpie Lady 1's special ability increases the attack points of my Cyber Harpie Lady". Winds then started moving around Cyber Harpie Lady, Atk: 2340-2640.

Mai then pointed at Joey's face down monster, "Now Harpie Lady 1, attack his face down monster with Whip Lash!" Harpie Lady 1 swung her whip at Joey's face down monster which got revealed and it was an armored warrior holding a flag on an armored winged horse, Atk & Def: 900-1170/500-650. The whip then hit him and destroyed him.

Joey held up his destroyed monster's card, "Little Trooper's special ability now activates, which means that since he was destroyed by battle, I can place a level 2 or below warrior monster in face down defense mode, like a second Little Trooper". Joey explained while he placed Little Trooper in his graveyard and grabbed his deck and looked through it before he grabbed a card in it and revealed it to be a second Little Trooper before he placed it face down. He then shuffled his deck and placed it down on the display table again.

Mai narrowed her eyes, "I suspect that you have at least one more Little Trooper, since that would make the most use of his ability, not to mention that you can have more low level warriors that you can summon like that". Mai was a little frustrated since she had hoped to attack Joey directly with Cyber Harpie Lady to inflict a massive amount of damage to him.

Mai then closed her eyes and hummed as she moved her hands over her cards again before she placed one of them in one of her spell and trap cards zones, "Now I end my turn by placing this card face down on my field". She looked at Joey and got a smirk on her face as she noticed that he was really troubled over the fact that she was playing her cards without looking at them.

Joey placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now, I draw". Joey drew his next card and narrowed his eyes when he saw that it was a twin sword wielder in black armor with spikes called Dark Blade.

 _If I summon Dark Blade, then I can take down her Harpie Lady 1, which will decrease Cyber Harpie Lady by 300, which will make them equal in attack points, or I could sacrifice Little Trooper in order to summon Flame Cerberus, who will gain a field power bonus from the forest, which will allow me to take out either of her two monsters_ , Joey thought to himself, trying to decide what he should do in this situation.

However he then heard Yugi's voice, "Wait a moment Joey". Joey looked down at Yugi confused and Yugi then continued with a serious expression, "I can tell that your nervous right now and is not thinking clearly, a good duelist need to try and stay calm and not let the opponent manipulate them so they will be able to look closely and see all of their options".

Joey had a shocked expression on his face for a few seconds before he took a deep breath before he looked down at his hand again, looking at each one closely, his eyes widened when he saw something he could do that he had missed because of him being too focused on how Mai could know what her cards was while face down.

Joey knew that he would end up using up almost his entire hand if he did this, but this could be the perfect time for a comeback so he had to take it.

Joey grabbed a card and revealed it and it was a spell card with the image of two monsters being sucked in to a vortex, "I'll start things off by activating the spell card Polymerization, which will allow me to Fusion Summon a Fusion monster".

Mai's eyes widened in shock when she heard that, "A loser like you can Fusion Summon?" She hadn't expected a Fusion Summon from someone of Joey's caliber.

Joey grabbed both Pitch-Dark Dragon and Dark Blade, "Now I Fuse together Dark Blade and Pitch-Dark Dragon in my hand in order to Fusion Summon Dark Blade the Dragon Knight". Dark Blade and Pitch-Dark Dragon appeared on the field and got sucked in to the vortex that appeared and then Dark Blade appeared out of it riding on Pitch-Dark Dragon's back, Atk: 2200.

Joey then held out his hand towards Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, "And since Dark Blade the Dragon Knight is a warrior type monster, he'll gain a field power bonus from the meadow field". Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, Atk & Def: 2200-2860/1500-1950.

Yugi looked at Joey, "And don't forget Joey, since a Fusion Summon is a special summon, you can still summon another monster this turn". Joey nodded his head looking at Yugi.

Joey then grabbed a card in his hand, "Now I sacrifice my face down Little Trooper in order to summon Flame Cerberus in attack mode". Little Trooper got revealed for a second before he disappeared and a cerberus with flaming fur and purple lower body with three tails appeared on the field, Atk & Def: 2100-2730/1800-2340

Joey then grabbed one of the remaining two cards in his hand, "Next, I activate the equip spell Fusion Weapon, which can only be equipped to a level 6 or below Fusion monster, like Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, which means that he now gains 1500 attack and defense points". Dark Blade the Dragon Knight crossed his two swords as he got surrounded by a red aura, Atk & Def: 2860-4360/1950-3450.

Mai gritted her teeth when she saw the two powerful monsters that Joey had managed to summon.

Yugi then spoke again, "Also Joey, normally you want to try and take down the opponent's strongest monster first, however in this case, you'll benefit for more than one reason by defeating his weakest monster first". Yugi didn't want to tell Joey right out what to do, so he decided to give Joey advice and hints about the best action would be for the moment.

Joey looked at him confused until a look of realization appeared on his face and a smirk appeared on his face. Joey then turned his face towards the field again and pointed at Harpie Lady 1, "Now Flame Cerberus, attack her Harpie Lady 1". Flame Cerberus roared before he unleashed a stream from each one of his mouths and they hit Harpie Lady 1 and destroyed her, Mai LP: 4000-3560.

Joey's smirk grew bigger as he looked at Cyber Harpie Lady, "And since Harpie Lady 1 is gone, your Cyber Harpie Lady loses 300 attack points". Joey explained with a satisfied tone, Cyber Harpie Lady, Atk: 2640-2340.

Joey then pointed at Cyber Harpie Lady, "Now Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, attack her Cyber Harpie Lady with Dark Blade Slash". Dark Blade the Dragon Knight flew towards Cyber Harpie Lady and slashed her with both of his swords, destroying her, Mai LP: 3560-1540.

Pitch-Dark Dragon then roared as both he and Dark Blade on his back got surrounded by a dark aura, "Now I activate Dark Blade the Dragon Knight's special ability! When he inflicts battle damage to my opponent, I can remove up to three monsters in the opponent's graveyard from the game".

Mai gritted her teeth as she quickly grabbed her face down and flipped it face up, "Before your effect activates, I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted, which allows me to bring back my Harpie Lady 1 in attack mode". Harpie Lady 1 then reappeared on the field and winds surrounded her again, Atk & Def: 1300-1990/1400-1820.

Joey gritted his teeth, "Fine, then just remove your Cyber Harpie Lady from the game". He had hoped to remove both of the Harpie Ladies, however Mai had managed to prevent that.

Mai then placed her Cyber Harpie Lady next to her graveyard, she looked at Joey and a smirk appeared on her face, "Looks like I was right that you're the weakest duelist on the island, after all, you only wiped out more than half of my life points because Yugi has been giving you advice during the entire duel".

Joey gritted his teeth as he heard the mocking tone in Mai's voice as she said that. He then looked at the only card left in his hand, it was a card that if the worst case scenario happened, he could reset the game. Joey looked at Mai, "I end my turn now, so let's see if you can beat this field Mai".

Mai didn't answer and just closed her eyes and hummed as she drew her next card, she then revealed it and it was Graceful Charity, "Thanks to get to Graceful Charity I get to draw three cards as long as I get rid of two from my hand". Mai then drew three more cards with her eyes closed. Her smirk grew bigger as he placed two of them face down while he placed the third one along with one from her hand on her graveyard.

Mai then flipped revealed one card and it was a spell card with the image of the sided feathers that's connected with each other, "I activate the spell card Elegant Egotist. If I have a Harpie Lady on my field, I can special summon a Harpie Lady or Harpie Lady Sisters from my hand or deck, and I choose my second Cyber Harpie Lady".

A light appeared next to Harpie Lady 1 and a second Cyber Harpie Lady appeared next to her, Atk & Def: 1800-2340/1300-1690. Winds then began moving around Cyber Harpie Lady, Atk: 2340-2640.

Joey had a smile on his face, "That was a pretty good move, however neither of your Harpies can beat my monsters". Joey felt pretty safe since his monsters were still stronger than Mai's monsters.

Mai then grabbed one of the remaining three cards in front of her and revealed it, "Not so fast, I now activate the spell card Monster Reborn, which allows me to bring back one monster from either of our graveyards to my side of the field".

Joey narrowed his eyes, right now, the strongest monster in either graveyard was his Dark Blade, however it wouldn't be able to help Mai defeat either of his monsters.

However to his shock so did a large red dragon with a collar and a chain around his neck appear on the field with a mighty roar, Atk & Def: 2000-2600/2500-3250.

Joey looked at Mai shocked, "What's going on? How did that get in to the graveyard?"

Mai chuckled, "Remember when I played Graceful Charity? With it I discarded my Harpie's Pet Dragon in order to revive him with the Monster Reborn in my hand". Mai explained with a smirk on her face.

Mai then pointed at Harpie's Pet Dragon, "And next, for every Harpie Lady on my field, Harpie's Pet Dragon gains 300 attack and defense points, and not only that, he'll also gain 300 more points thanks to Harpie Lady 1's special ability". Harpie's Pet Dragon then let out a powerful roar as winds started moving around him, Atk & Def: 2600-3500/3250-3850.

Joey's eyes widened in shock, "That dragon now has 3500 attack points?" It was enough to take down his Flame Cerberus, however thanks to Fusion Weapon, Dark Blade the Dragon Knight had 4360 attack points.

However Mai then grabbed one of her remaining cards and revealed it to be a spell with the image of a large feather, "Next, I activate Harpie's Feather Duster, which now will destroy all spell and trap cards on your side of the field". Joey's eyes widened in shock when he heard that and then a small tornado moved across his spell and trap card zones and his Fusion Weapon got destroyed. Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, Atk & Def: 4360-2860/3450-1950. Joey gritted his teeth feeling really worried now since Harpie's Pet Dragon could destroy either of his monsters now.

However Mai wasn't finished yet as she grabbed her last card and revealed it and it was a spell card with the images of purple armor with spikes on it, "Next I activate this, Cyber Shield and by equipping it to Cyber Harpie Lady, she'll gain 500 attack points". Cyber Harpie Lady then screeched, Atk: 2640-3140.

Joey felt really worried now since Mai now could destroy both of his monsters and then attack him directly with Harpie Lady 1.

Mai then pointed at Flame Cerberus, "Now Cyber Harpie Lady, attack his Flame Cerberus". Cyber Harpie Lady screeched as she flew up in the air before she flew down towards Flame Cerberus and scratched him with the claws on her feet, destroying him, Joey LP: 3660-3250.

Mai then pointed at Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, "Now Harpie's Pet Dragon, attack his Dark Blade the Dragon Knight with Fearsome Fire Blast!" Harpie's Pet Dragon opened his mouth and unleashed a massive stream of fire towards Dark Blade the Dragon Knight and he roared in pain before he got destroyed, Joey LP: 3250-2610.

Mai then pointed at Joey, "And now Harpie Lady 1, attack that amateur directly!" Harpie Lady then flew towards Joey and scratched his platform with the claws on her right leg, causing Joey to groan, Joey LP: 2610-620.

Mai laughed happily, "Man, I never get tired of crushing losers like you Wheeler". She then looked at the shocked Joey with a mocking smile, "It's your turn now, so make your final move and get ready to be sent back home".

Joey looked at his deck troubled, "It's my turn now, I draw". He drew his next card and looked it, he then placed the card in his hand and then grabbed the other card, "I place one monster face down in defense mode and that will end my turn". One of Joey's monster zones lit up.

Mai chuckled, "Looks like you're out of options now Wheeler, it's my turn". She drew her next card and placed it face down in front of her. Mai then pointed at Joey's face down monster, "Now Harpie Lady 1, attack his face down monster". Harpie Lady 1 flew towards Joey's face down monster and it got revealed to be a tree like creature, Atk & Def: 500-650/500-650. Harpie Lady 1 slashed it with the claws on her right leg and destroyed it.

Mai got a surprised expression on her face, "Fiber Jar? Oh no!" She knew about Fiber Jar's ability and knew that she had messed up.

Joey got a smirk on his face, "That's right, now since Fiber Jar got flipped face up, all the cards in our hands on our field and in our graveyards will be shuffled in to our decks and then we both get to draw five new cards". Joey then placed the card in his hand in to his deck before he grabbed every card in his graveyard and placed them in to his deck except for Dark Blade the Dragon Knight that he placed in his extra deck.

Mai gritted her teeth before she grabbed the card in front of her along with everyone on her field and in her graveyard and placed them in to her deck.

Both of them then shuffled their decks before both of them drew five new cards. Mai placed the cards face down in front of her and closed her eyes for a few seconds before she grabbed one of them, "Since I didn't summon before Fiber Jar's effect activated, I can summon a monster now, so come forth, Harpie Queen!" A female monster with long green hair in a ponytail and a green and purple bodysuit with white wings on her arms with claws on her hands and bird feet, Atk & Def: 1900-1470/1200-1560.

Joey gritted his teeth, it looked like using Fiber Jar's ability didn't help him at all.

Tristan had a frustrated expression on his face, "Oh great, I thought that Joey was a little safer by returning all of their cards to the deck, but Mai just summoned a new monster whose power rose to almost 2500". Tea also had a worried expression on her face as she looked at Joey.

Mai then looked at Joey, "I end my turn now, so make your final move Wheeler". She had been shocked that Joey had managed to survived this turn, however she was sure that he wouldn't be able to survive the next turn.

Joey gritted his teeth as he looked at his hand, he had one card that might help him a little but it still wouldn't be able to save him, and since Mai knew what her cards were without even looking at them, he couldn't really try and read her expression.

Joey closed his eyes, "Am I really going to lose here?" Could he really not beat Mai? Would he lose here and fail to win the money for his sister's surgery?

Yugi had a troubled expression on his face as he saw the look of despair on Joey's face. He didn't know what to say right now to help him.

Yami then appeared next to him, _"Yugi, seen how Mai have been acting, I think I might have an idea about how she knows what her cards is while face down, so let me talk to Joey"._ Yugi looked at Yami shocked when he heard that, however he saw that Yami had a confident expression on his face, so Yugi just nodded his head.

A bright light came out of his Millennium Puzzle as Yami took control over the body. Yami looked at Joey, "Joey! Don't lose faith". Mai looked at Yugi confused while Joey looked at him shocked.

Yami then continued with a confident tone, "Joey, with one sentence, I will help you uncover the secret behind the trick she's using to know what her cards are". He then narrowed his eyes, "Something that can be seen, but can't be seen at the same time".

Joey's eyes widened in shock when he heard that since that was the sentence that he had used to described his newly formed friendship with Yugi. Tea and Tristan looked at Yami confused, they had heard about that sentence, however they didn't know how that would help Joey right now.

Mai just laughed when she heard what Yami said, "You seriously think that a stupid riddle like that can help him can beat me?" She then looked at Joey with a mocking smirk on her face, "Alright Wheeler, just draw your next card and make your move so I can finally end this duel".

Joey looked down at the display table, "What did Yugi mean that the riddle that describes our friendship is gonna help me figure out the trick she's using?" Joey then closed his eyes in frustration since he didn't understand what Yami had tried to tell him.

Joey was bothered by the darkness as his eyes were closed, _I refuse to except that this is the world that Serenity will be living in. I will make sure that she get that surgery so that her sight can be saved, I need to find out about Mai's trick_ , Joey was filled with new determination.

However he then noticed a sweet scent in the air, no he then realized that it was multiple different scent he was smelling, _What's with these smells, I didn't notice them with my eyes opened, but it smells like a lot of different perfumes, but where are they…_ Joey then opened his eyes with a gasp as he realized what Yami had tried to tell him.

Joey looked at Mai while a smirk appeared on his face, "I see! I've figured out your card trick". Mai got a shocked expression on his face before Joey continued with a confident tone, "You have sprayed your cards with different perfumes and then you can just smell which card is which while they're face down in order to mess with your opponent's head".

Joey then looked down at Yami with a smile, "You can see the cards but not the smell of the perfumes, something you can see, but can't be seen at the same time. Now I understand what you tried to tell me Yug!" Yami nodded his head with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Mai slammed her hands in to the display table in front of her, "This can't be! There is no way that an amateur like you could've figured out my aroma strategy!" She refused to believe that Joey had figured out her trick.

Joey looked at Mai, "I can't believe that I fell for a trick like that, well not anymore, I won't be distracted by your actions anymore, so let's continue the duel". Joey then placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it.

Joey then grabbed a card in his hand, "I start by placing a monster face down in defense mode". Joey placed the card face down in defense mode as a monster zone lit up in front of him. Joey then grabbed two cards in his hand, "And next I end my turn by placing two cards face down". Joey placed two cards face down in front of him and two spell and trap card zones lit up in front of him.

Mai narrowed her eyes, "It's my turn now!" She drew her next card and looked at it since her aroma strategy was already exposed she didn't have a reason to use it now. She then got a smile on her face as she revealed that the card was Elegant Egotist, "Since Harpie Queen is treated as Harpie Lady on the field, I can use Elegant Egotist to special summon Harpie Lady 1 from my deck". Harpie Lady 1 then reappeared on the field, Atk & Def: 1300-1690/1400-1820.

Harpie Lady 1 and Harpie Queen then got surrounded by moving winds, Atk: 1690-1990/2470-2770.

Mai then grabbed another card in her hand, "And next, I summon Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon in attack mode". A baby version of Harpie's Pet Dragon then appeared on the field and then let out a small roar, Atk & Def: 1200-1560/600-780.

Mai then pointed at Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, "Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon has three special abilities that activates based on how many other Harpie monsters on my field, since I have two, you can only attack Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, also his original attack and defense is double, not only that but he also gains 300 points since he's a wind attribute monster. Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon let a small roar as he got surrounded by moving winds, Atk & Def: 1560-3060/780-1380.

Mai then pointed at Joey's face down monster, "Now Harpie Queen, attack his face down monster". Harpie Queen let out a screech before she flew towards Joey's face down monster.

Joey grabbed one of his face down cards and flipped it face up and it was a trap card with the image of a whac-a-mole game, "I activate my face down, the continuous trap card Fairy Box! Now each time you attack me, I can flip a coin, and if I guess right, your attacking monster's attack points becomes 0 until the end of the battle phase". Joey explained as he took out a coin.

Mai narrowed her eyes, "Are you really gonna leave the outcome of this duel to luck?"

Joey didn't answer her and just flipped the coin, "Heads". All of them watched in suspense as the coin fell through the air before Joey grabbed it and placed it on the back of his hand. He then removed his head and a smile appeared on his face, "Alright, it's heads!" Mai's eyes widened in shock when she heard that before she looked at her Harpie Queen troubled, Harpie Queen, Atk: 2770-0.

Joey's face down monster then got revealed and it was a small orange dragon who had its arms crossed in front of it, Atk & Def: 1200-1560/700-910.

Harpie Queen slashed at Baby Dragon, however he blocked it and repelled her, Mai LP: 1540-630. Mai gritted her teeth since her life points were now almost even with Joey's and that there was only 10 points different between their points.

Joey narrowed his eyes and he then slightly turned his eyes towards his other trap card, Trap Hole of Spikes. Since the trap card could be activated if a monster that was summoned this turn attacked, he couldn't use it against Harpie Queen, which is why he had been relieved when he had also drawn his Fairy Box.

Mai stared at Joey with an irritated expression, "Your expression is so easy to read, that other face down card is obviously a trap card that will activate when I attack, I don't know why you didn't use it against my Harpie Queen, maybe it has a special condition to be activated, I don't know, however I don't really care".

Mai closed her eyes and moved one of her cards on the table in to one of her spell and trap card zones, "Since I risk to lose the duel is you manage to guess right one more time, I'll just end my turn by placing one card face down". A spell and trap card zone lit up behind Harpie Lady 1. Harpie Queen, Atk: 0-2770.

Joey placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now". Joey drew his next card and looked at it, he then looked at Mai, "Next, to keep my Fairy Box on the field, I need to pay 500 life points". Joey, LP: 620-120.

However at that moment, Mai flipped her face down card face up and it was a trap card with an image of tornados sending people and a cow flying.

"Not so fast Wheeler, I now activate the trap card Heavy Storm Duster, I can't attack the turn I activate this card, however it does allow me to destroy two spell and trap cards on the field, and I choose your Fairy Box as well as your face down card".

Joey's eyes widened in shock when he heard that and he then saw how two tornados came out of Heavy Storm Duster that then hit and destroyed both his Fairy Box and his Trap Hole of Spikes.

Yami narrowed his eyes, "That was clever of Mai". Tea and Tristan looked at him confused and he continued, "If you activate Heavy Storm Duster during your own turn then you wouldn't be able to attack during that turn, however since she activated it during Joey's turn, she will be able to attack during her next turn".

Tea and Tristan looked at Joey troubled, Mai was a really terrible person, but they had to admit that she was a skilled duelist and they worried about how Joey would be able to survive her next turn without his Fairy Box.

Mai looked at Joey with a smirk, "You just lost your last defense, why don't you just surrender and hand over your star chip to me?" Joey gritted his teeth, as much he hated to admit it, Mai had a point, he didn't know how he would be able to survive Mai's next turn without his Fairy Box.

However Yami just got a smirk on his face as he looked at Mai, "Don't be so sure Mai, Joey still have a trump card left in his deck that if used together with Baby Dragon will give Joey the victory".

Mai, Tea and Tristan looked at Yami shocked and confused, however a look of understanding appeared on Joey's face. Yami was talking about that card he had given him on the boat, Time Wizard, unfortunately he didn't have it in his hand, however he had just drawn a card that could give him a second chance to draw it.

"I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, which means I can draw two more cards". Joey placed his fingers on his deck, nervous, if he didn't draw Time Wizard right now, he would lose the duel during Mai's next turn.

Joey closed his eyes nervous as he drew his next two cards, asking his deck to help him now. Joey slowly opened his eyes and looked at the cards he had drawn and a huge smile appeared on his face, "Alright! Now I activate Time Wizard!" A small red spellcaster that had clock gears on its head, shoulders and legs as well as having a clock for a face and with a staff with four skulls and two time engines appeared on the field.

Mai looked at Time Wizard confused, "Time Wizard? What kind of card is that?" She had never heard of the card before.

Joey looked at Mai with a smile, "Time Wizard is a monster that can also be used as a spell card, and he has two different effects based on what he's used as, that is similar yet different".

Joey then held up his coin again, "Now I get to flip a coin, if I guess right, then I can sacrifice the Baby Dragon on my field in order to special summon Thousand Dragon from my hand or deck".

Tea looked at Yami worried, "What happens if Joey guesses wrong?" Yami narrowed his eyes, "If that happens, then all of Joey's monsters will be destroyed and he'll take damage equal to half of their combined attack points". Tristan and Tea got worried when they heard that since half of Baby Dragon's attack points were more than enough to finish Joey off.

However a smirk appeared on Yami's face, "However, if he does succeed, then something interesting will happen to Mai's monsters". Tea and Tristan looked at him confused, wondering what he was talking about.

Joey took out his coin again, "I'm gonna choose tails, I'm counting on you Time Wizard, now go Time Roulette!" Joey flipped the coin and Time Wizard held up his staff and it began to spin fast.

Joey grabbed the coin and placed it on his hand, at the same time, the arrow on Time Wizard's staff began to slow down. Joey removed his hand from the coin and a smile appeared on his face while Mai got a worried on her face as she saw how the arrow stopped at a time engine.

Joey held up his right hand, "Alright! Now it's time for a Time Warp!" A bright light appeared out of Time Wizard's staff and he disappeared. Baby Dragon then out a small roar as his body began to glow before he started growing.

Joey held up Baby Dragon's card before he placed it in his graveyard and grabbed his deck and looked through it, "Now Baby Dragon will age one thousand years and transform in to…" Joey grabbed a card in his deck and revealed it to be a large brown dragon with horns on his head and a spiky beard, "Thousand Dragon!" Thousand Dragon then appeared on the field with a low roar, Atk & Def: 2400-3120/2000-2600.

Mai gritted her teeth in frustration when she saw how much power Thousand Dragon gained before she glared at Joey, "I admit that he's strong, however he's only 60 points stronger than my Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, which means that you won't be able to end the duel this turn. I'm going to make a comeback during my next turn!"

Yami who still had a smirk on his face chuckled, "Actually Mai, I think you should take a closer look at your monsters". Tea and Tristan looked at him confused since they had focused on what Joey had done and looked towards Mai's side of the field.

Mai looked at her field and shocked when she saw that her Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon looked really old and thin while Harpie Queen and Harpie Lady 1 had become old ladies, Atk: 3060-2260/2770-1970/1990-1190.

Mai couldn't believe her eyes, "What happened to my Harpies and my Pet Baby Dragon?"

Yami held up his right index finger, "It's simple, Time Wizard doesn't just allow Baby Dragon to become Thousand Dragon, but when his spell effect activates, all opposing monsters currently on the field loses 800 attack points".

Yami then looked Mai straight in to the eyes, "Mai, you have no face down cards, the difference between Thousand Dragon and your Pet Baby Dragon is now 860 and you have 630 life points left, I think you know what this means".

Mai couldn't even answer him as she had a look of despair on her face, she couldn't believe that she was about to lose to an amateur like Joey.

Joey had a shocked expression, "I bbelieved, and the cards answered me, awesome". Joey then pointed at Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, "Go Thousand Dragon! Attack Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon with Inferno Flame Breath". Thousand Dragon took a deep breath before he unleashed streams of fire from his nostrils and Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon roared pain before he got destroyed, Mai LP: 630-0.

Tea cheered while Tristan roared in joy before they high fived and Joey did a thumbs up to Yami who did the same back.

Mai looked down at the display table with a shocked expression, "I can't believe it, I can't believe that I lost to an amateur like him".

Joey who heard Mai turned towards her, "Mai Valentine!" Mai looked up at him confused and he continued, "I can't say that I won only with skills since I'm still learning, however fate was on my side today since I had something strong to support me, something that can be seen, but can't be seen at the same time".

Mai gritted her teeth as the platforms got lowered down and Joey walked over to her and she handed over one of her four star chips. Joey then placed it in to his Duel Glove with a proud smile on his face.

Yami looked at him with a smile before a bright light came out of the Millennium Puzzle and Yugi took control over the body again.

Tristan walked over to Joey and slapped him on his back with a huge smile on his face, "Way to go Joey! You actually beat her". Joey looked at Tristan with a smirk after he recovered from the slap.

Yugi walked over to Joey with a smile, "Your deck did really well, but as I thought, we need to add a few spell and trap removal cards in to him, good thing I brought a few with me in case that would be the case". Yugi had brought a few spell and trap cards with him, and he was sure that he had brought at least one Heavy Storm Duster, which he found funny since Mai had used it.

Joey nodded his head as he looked at his two star chips with a smile, _Just eight more now, just wait Serenity, I will win my way in to the finals and get the prize money, I will save your sight_ , Joey thought to himself with a determined look in his eyes.

 **Cards**

 **Time Wizard**

 **Atk: 500 Def: 400 LV: 2 Attribute: Light**

 **Effects:**

 **Can be treated as a spell card**

 **Monster effect:**

 **Toss a coin, if you guess right, destroy all monsters on your opponent's field. If you guess wrong, destroy all monsters on your side of the field and then take damage equal to half of their combined attack points.**

 **Spell effect:**

 **Toss a coin, if you guess right, all monsters currently on the opponent's field loses 800 attack points. If you guess wrong, destroy all monsters on your side of the field and then take damage equal to half of their combined attack points.**

 **Thousand Dragon**

 **Atk: 2400 Def: 2000 LV: 7 Attribute: Wind**

 **Effect:**

 **Can't be normal summoned or set, must be special summoned (from hand or deck) by tributing a Baby Dragon that was on the field when you successfully activated the effect of Time Wizard.**


	6. Attack from the depth

Yu-Gi-Oh! Rise of a Legend

Chapter 6

Yugi and his friends were walking while looking for new opponents and places to eat. Joey was looking at his two star chips while he chuckled to himself.

Tea sighed and looked at Joey, "Joey has been looking at his star chips from time to time for the last half hour now". She knew that he was happy that he had defeated Mai, but how long would he keep looking at them.

Tristan looked at Joey as well with a smirk, "That's true, but you can't blame him. I mean he managed to beat Mai despite her being far more skilled than he is".

Yugi nodded his head with a smile and looked at Joey, "You did great against Mai, however we can't relax yet, we still need to win more star chips in order to get in to Pegasus's castle".

Joey looked at Yugi with a confident smirk on his face, "Of course, I won't lose, no matter what".

However at that moment, his stomach grumbled. Joey held his stomach with a hungry expression on his face, "But seriously, where are the food stands? I'm really hungry".

Yugi got a troubled expression on his face, "Yeah, about that, I'm starting to get the feeling that there is no food stands on the island". The other three looked at him shocked and horrified.

Yami appeared next to Yugi with a troubled expression on his face as well, _"We both thought for sure that we would get food on the island, however seems like we were wrong. We should've packed some easy to make food and brought it with us"._ Yugi agreed with what Yami had mentally told him. It seemed like Pegasus had planned on letting the participants to fix their own food.

Joey was running his hands through his hair in frustration, "Seriously? You mean that we won't have anything to eat? Then how will we survive the next two days?" Yugi knew that Joey had a point, they needed to find something eatable if they were going be able to keep going.

Tristan sighted and reached inside of his coat and took out a book from an pocket on the inside of it, "Looks like it was a good thing I bought this, this survival guide will show us which berries and mushrooms that's eatable". He explained while he opened the book

Tristan then noticed the disgusted expression on his friends and sighed tired, "I know okay? I know that it most likely won't be tasty, but without any other food we don't have any other choice". He wanted them to understand that he didn't like the idea anymore than they did, however as things were they didn't have a choice.

Joey closed his eyes and sighed tired, not looking forward to eating mushrooms. However at that moment he felt a delicious smell. He sniffed in the air and turned towards where he felt the smell coming from, "What's that delicious smell?" He then ran off towards where he felt the smell, which caused the other three to run after him shocked and confused.

A little while later so did the gang looked out through a few bushes and saw a few fishes on sticks getting fried on a cliff. Drool was coming out of Joey's mouth as he watched the fishes, "Man that looks really good, let's get some of it".

Tea looked at him with a look of disbelief on her face, "What are you talking about? That's obviously someone else's dinner, we can't just take it". She was also hungry, but she didn't want to steal someone else's dinner.

Joey looked at her with a smirk, "Hey, we need to survive, and since no one is here, no one will find out". Tristan nodded his head as he agreed and both of them ran towards the fish before Tea or Yugi could stop them.

Tristan and Joey grabbed a fish each and sat down on tree logs that was around the fire and grabbed the both sides of the stick while they were about to take a bit out of the fishes.

However, right before they could, an angry voice called out to them, "Hey! What the heck are you guys doing?!" Joey and Tristan followed the voice confused while Tea and Yugi came up to them.

Mako then climbed up the cliff next to them with a fish on his spear while he glared at Joey and Tristan, "How dare you guys steal my fish you lowlifes? Now prepare yourselves for the consequences of your actions".

Joey stood up with an angry expression, "Calm down! We haven't taken a bit out of them yet, so we can just give them back".

Mako looked at him with an angry expression on his face, "That doesn't change the fact that you tried to steal my food and that…" However he then got a shocked expression on his face as he noticed the hungry expression on Joey and Tristan's face as they looked at the top of his head. He placed his head and felt something on top of it. He pulled it off and saw that it was a squid, he gritted his teeth and threw it out over the ocean.

Tristan and Joey cried out, "No! We could've eaten that!" Tea looked down in embarrassment over how the two of them were acting.

Yugi looked at Mako, he thought that he seemed familiar, and then his eyes widened as he realized who he was, "Wait a minute, you're Mako Tsunami, the top rank water duelist who came third in the National Championship". Tea looked Yugi shocked when she heard that and Tristan and Joey looked at Mako again shocked.

Mako looked at Yugi, "And who are you guys?" Yugi walked over to him and held out his hand with a smile, "Sorry for the late introduction, I'm Yugi Muto and I'm sorry that my friends tried to take your fish".

Mako's eyes widened in shock, "Wait! You're Yugi Muto, the only duelist that defeated Seto Kaiba?" He quickly recovered from his shock and grabbed Yugi's hand and shook it, "What a surprise. It's nice to meet you and I must say that it would be an honor to face you in a duel one day".

Yugi nodded his head, "Same her Mako". Truth to be told, while he had respected Weevil for winning the Championship before he found out how he really were as a person and Rex for coming second, he and Yami had thought that Mako was more interesting than the two finalists.

Yugi then spoke again, "Let me apologize again, we thought that we would get food on the island and so we forgot to pack some food, and then Joey smelled your fish". Yugi hoped that Mako would forgive Joey and Tristan if he explained the situation

Mako's smile grew bigger, "I see, I understand now". He turned around and looked at Tristan and Joey with a smile on his face, "Allow me to apologize, since you're friends of Yugi Muto, please come over here and eat to your heart's content".

Happy smiles appeared on Joey and Tristan's faces, "Thanks!" Both of them said before sitting down again and began eating fish. Mako sat down and made a motion with his hand to tell Yugi and Tea to sit down and eat as well. Tea and Yugi smiled at each other sheepishly before they both sat down and Mako handed them both a fish.

A little while later so did Joey and Tristan sigh satisfied. Tea looked at Mako with a smile, "Thanks for the fish, where did you learn to cock like this?"

Mako looked out over the ocean, "My father was a fisherman, so I grew up spending most of childhood either looking at the ocean or a fishing boat, which caused me to love the ocean, so if I win the tournament, I plan on buying a boat".

Tea's smile grew bigger when she heard that, "Really? You want to buy a boat? It sounds really nice to live your life on the ocean". Joey, Tristan and Yugi nodded their heads with smiles, agreeing with Tea.

Mako nodded his head with a smile, "Yeah, I have watched the ocean so much that I can understand how it feels almost as much as you can a person's feelings, right now the sea is feeling calm and friendly, pretty much inviting you to come in to it".

Mako then noticed Yugi and the others looking at him with amazed expression. Mako got a sheepish expression and scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, that must have sounded weird to you all".

Tea shook her head with a smile on her face, "Not at all, I mean you who grew up so in touch with the ocean would understand it better than people like us". Yugi nodded his head, he enjoyed listening to Mako's story.

Joey then stood up with a smile on his face, "Thanks for the food Mako, sorry that we tried to take it, it was wrong to do even if we were starving. We appreciate that you decided to share it with us".

Mako looked at them with a smirk, "What? Are you guys leaving already?" Yugi also stood up with a smile, "Yeah, we need to get going, but it was nice to meet you, and we might meet each other in the tournament". Tea and Tristan also got up and also thanked Mako before the four of them turned to leave.

Mako stood up and grabbed his spear, "Oh we will meet in the tournament, in fact, we will sooner than you expect my friend".

Yugi turned around confused when he heard what Mako said and then gasped in shock when the spear landed next to his right foot. Mako chuckled and crossed his arms, "Do you think I would really let a big catch escape from me?" He asked them with a confident tone.

Joey glared at him, "What do you mean by big catch?" He had no idea what Mako was talking about.

Mako closed his eyes, "I mean Yugi of course. You see, I knew that a lot of participates on this island would be inexperience in getting their own food, so I used the fishes I catch as bait to lure opponents to me, however…" He reopened his eyes and looked at Yugi with a satisfied smirk on his face, "I never expected that I would catch the great Yugi Muto".

Joey got a shocked expression, "Seriously? You used the fish to lure us to you?" The way Mako had acted before had made Joey think that he had really been mad about that they had tried to eat it, but according to Mako he had purposely left it there to lure duelists to him.

Mako held up his Duel Glove and revealed that he had four star chips, "I caught another duelist not long ago, but he was no challenge at all". He then pointed at Yugi and declared with a serious expression, "But dueling against you Yugi would be a test of strength".

Yugi looked at Yami who appeared next to him, Yami looked at Yugi with a determined smile on his face, Yugi knew what that expression and nodded his head. A bright light came out of the Millennium Puzzle and moments later Yami looked at Mako with a confident smirk on his face, "Alright Mako Tsunami, I accept your challenge".

A smirk appeared on Mako's face as a Duel Arena appeared out of the ocean behind him right next to the cliff. Mako got up on the red platform while Yami got up on the blue platform which got lifted up.

Yami looked at Mako, "So how many star chips do you want to bet Mako?" Yami was willing to bet all his star chips if Mako wanted to bet three of his.

Mako looked at Yami with a smirk on his face, "You have three star chips right? I have an idea. You will bet two star chips while I bet three of mine, which means that not only can we reduce the sacrifices needed for our monsters by one, but no matter who wins, the loser will still be in the tournament, what do you think?"

Yami got a shocked expression on his face when he heard that, however a smirk then appeared on his face, "If you want to do that, then sure, that sounds interesting". Mako placed down three star chips while Yami placed down two of his.

Both of them then placed down their decks on the display table and the holographic display system got activated and the field was wasteland on Yami's side while sea ob Mako's field.

Both of them drew their first five cards and looked at them. Mako looked at Yami, "You can make the first move Yugi". Yami nodded his head and placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card. He looked at his hand, he could summon a strong monster right away, however he didn't know what Mako had so he decided to take it easy.

Yami placed the card he had just drawn in his hand and grabbed a card in his hand, "I summon Des Feral Imp in attack mode". A green reptilian monster with a yellow stomach with horns on its head appeared on the field, Atk: 1600. Yami looked at Mako, "And with that, I end my turn".

Mako nodded his head and drew his sixth card and looked at it, he then placed it in his hand before he grabbed a card in it, "I summon Great White in attack mode". A bright light appeared under the water surface on Mako's field however to Yami's shock so didn't Great White appear, he knew about Great White's attack and defense points status, but he was shocked that it could hide itself under the water.

Mako then pointed at Des Feral Imp, "Alright Great White, attack his Feral Imp now!" Moments later a large shark with human arms jumped out of the water, Atk & Def: 1600-2080/800-1040. Great White bit down on Des Feral Imp who roared in pain before he got destroyed, Yami LP: 4000-3520.

Yami narrowed his eyes frustrated as Great White disappeared under the water surface again. Mako then placed one card face down in front of him before he looked at Yami with a smirk, "I end my turn by placing one card face down, make your move Yugi".

Yami narrowed his eyes while he drew his next card, _Now that I know what his monster is, I can attack without worry_ , Yami thought as he placed the card he had drawn in his hand and grabbed another, "I summon Summoned Skull in attack mode". A fiend monster with bones on its chest and waist with a skull for head with horns with a purple body and blue wings appeared on the field, Atk: 2500.

Yami then grabbed another card in his hand, "And next, I now I'll activate the card I just drew, Polymerization!" Yami then revealed two cards in his hand which was Gaia the Fierce Knight and Curse of Dragon, "Now I fuse together my Curse of Dragon with my Gaia the Fierce Knight in order to Fusion Summon Gaia the Dragon Champion".

Gaia the Fierce Knight and Curse of Dragon then appeared on the field before they got sucked in to the vortex. A few moments later Gaia came out of the vortex while riding on Curse of Dragon, Atk: 2600.

Joey got a smirk on his face, "Alright, Yugi managed to summon two powerful monsters at once!" Tea and Tristan had smiles on their faces on their faces".

Yami then pointed at the water, "Now Summoned Skull, attack his Great White with Lightning Strike!" Electricity gathered around Summoned Skull and he unleashed it in to the water. Great White then jumped out of the water while he roared in pain while electricity went through his body before he got destroyed, Mako LP: 4000-3580.

Yami then pointed at Mako, "Now Gaia the Dragon Champion…"

However Mako at that point flipped his face down card face up, "Not so fast, I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted! And with that, my Great White returns to me". Great White then once again jumped out of the water with a roar, Atk & Def: 1600-2080/800-1040.

Yami narrowed his eyes, he had hoped to attack Mako directly, however he guessed that destroying Great White for a second time would have to do, "Fine now my Dragon Champion, attack his Great White with Double Dragon Lance!"

Gaia flew towards Great White that jumped up in the air and slashed him with both of his lances, destroying him again, Mako LP: 3580-3060. Yami looked at the two cards left in his hand and then looked at Mako, "I end my turn now".

Mako drew his next card and looked at it, a smirk appeared on his face, he then placed it in his hand and grabbed another card in his hand and revealed that it was a monster that looked like a barnacle with drills on top of it, "Now I summon Drill Barnacle in attack mode". Drill Barnacle then jumped out of the water while the drills began spinning, Atk: 300-390.

Mako then grabbed another card in his hand and revealed a spell card of a metal turtle shell, "Next, I activate the equip spell Steel Shell, which increases Drill Barnacle's attack points by 400, and normally it would decrease defense by 200, but since he has 0 defense points so can't lose any". Drill Barnacle, Atk: 390-790.

Mako pointed at Yugi, "And thanks to his special ability, he can attack the opponent directly, so go Drill Barnacle, attack his life points directly". Drill Barnacle dived under the water and swam forward, he then jumped over Gaia and Summoned Skull and towards Yami while he drills began spinning again, he then rammed them in to the platform while Yami groaned, Yami LP: 3520-2730.

Mako's smirk then grew bigger as Drill Barnacle returned to his field, "And next, Drill Barnacle's second special ability activates, when he inflicts battle damage to the opponent, he gains 1000 attack points". Drill Barnacle, Atk: 790-1790.

Yami gritted his teeth, _This is bad, if I don't get rid of Drill Barnacle soon then he will wipe out all of my life points with just two more direct attacks_ , Yami thought to himself, even though he was sure that Mako would have a way to protect Drill Barnacle at least for this turn which would be all he needed since with just one more attack Drill Barnacle would become too powerful for both of Yami's monsters to handle.

Mako then grabbed the card he had drawn earlier and revealed and Yami's eyes widened when he saw what it was, "Next, I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light". Then the swords of light fell down from the sky around both Summoned Skull and Gaia the Dragon Champion, trapping both of them.

Yami gritted his teeth since now his monsters were sealed for three turns unless he managed to destroy Swords of Revealing Light.

Mako then looked at Yami, "I end my turn now, so make your move Yugi".

Yami narrowed his eyes before he placed his fingers on his deck, "My move then". He drew next card and looked at it before he revealed that it was Pot of Greed, "I activate Pot of Greed which lets me draw two more cards". He drew two more cards and looked at them.

Yami then placed both of the cards face down on the display table, "I place two cards face down". Two spots lit up behind Gaia and Summoned Skull.

Yami then grabbed one of the remaining cards in his hand and revealed it to be a spell card with the image of goblins with merchandise being attacked, "Next I activate the continuous spell card Supply Squad and end my turn.

Mako placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now". He drew his next card and looked at it, a smile appeared on his face, "Now I summon Amphibian Beast in attack mode". A large green humanoid sea creature jumped out of the water, Atk & Def: 2400-3120/2000-2600.

Mako then pointed at Yami, "Now Drill Barnacle, attack his life points directly". Drill Barnacle jumped over Summoned Skull and Gaia towards Yami once again.

However Yami at that moment flipped one of his face down cards face up and it was a trap card with the image of a magical circle, "Not so fast, I activate the trap card Spellbinding Circle!" A yellow magical appeared and Drill Barnacle got trapped inside of it while he struggled to break free.

Yami looked at the shocked Mako with a smirk, "Sorry Mako, but there won't be any more bypassing my monsters with Drill Barnacle since he won't be able to attack while trapped in my Spellbinding Circle".

Mako gritted his teeth when he heard that, however he then got a smirk on his face, "Maybe, but I still have my Amphibian Beast, and he will now attack your Summoned Skull!" Amphibian Beast then jumped out of the water towards Summoned Skull and slashed him with the claws on his right hand, destroying him, Yami LP: 2730-2110.

Yami at that moment flipped his other face down card face up and it had the image of a soldier being pulled out of a hole with a rope, "Next, I activate the trap card Rope of Life, now by discarding my entire hand, I can bring back the monster you just destroyed, only now it will gain 800 more attack points".

Yami placed the one card in his hand on to his graveyard after the explanation and then a rope appeared and fell down in to a hole that appeared on the wasteland and Summoned Skull got pulled out of it, Atk: 2500-3300.

Mako gritted his teeth and looked at his hand, he then looked at Yami, "Your Summoned Skull might be the strongest monster on the field now, but as long as my swords are up, I'm safe, so now I end my turn".

Yami looked at his deck, after this turn, there would still be one more turn where he would be unable to attack, unless he drew something good now.

Yami placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it. A smile appeared on his face as he turned it around and revealed it to be Mystical Space Typhoon, "Now with the power of Mystical Space Typhoon, I destroy your Swords of Revealing Light". A tornado appeared on Yami's field and shattered all the swords of light surrounding his monsters.

Yami then pointed at Amphibian Beast, "Now Summoned Skull, attack his Amphibian Beast with Lightning Strike!" Summoned Skull then gathered electricity around him and unleashed it towards Amphibian Beast who roared in pain once he got hit before getting destroyed, Mako LP: 3060-2880.

Yami then pointed at Drill Barnacle who was still struggling against the Spellbinding Circle, "Now Gaia, attack Drill Barnacle with Double Dragon Lance!" Gaia the Dragon Champion flew towards Drill Barnacle and slashed him with both of his lances, destroying him, Mako LP: 2880-2070.

Yami looked at Mako with a smirk, "And with that, I end my turn now, your move Mako".

Mako looked at Yami while a smirk appeared on his face, "Good move Yugi, however, I won't give up". He placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card, a smirk appeared on his face and revealed it and it was Graceful Charity, "Now thanks to Graceful Charity, I can draw three cards but then I need to discard two from my hand". Mako then drew three more cards and looked at them, he then placed two in his hand while he placed the third along with another card in his hand on to his graveyard.

Mako then grabbed one of the cards he had drawn and revealed it, it was a spell card with the image of a black hole, "Now I activate the spell Dark Hole, which will destroy all monsters on the field, so say good bye to your Summoned Skull and your Dragon Champion". Yami gritted his teeth when he heard this.

A black hole appeared in the middle of the field and unleashed a gravitational pull, Gaia and Summoned Skull tried to resist, however they soon got sucked in to the vortex despite trying to resist. Yami gritted his teeth as he placed both of his monsters in to his graveyard.

However Yami then placed a hand on his deck, "However, since monsters on my field was destroyed, I get to draw one card from my deck". Yami drew his next card and got troubled when he saw that it was Mage Power since he couldn't use right now.

Mako then grabbed the other card he had drawn, "I see, well it doesn't really matter. I summon the mighty Kairyu-Shin in attack mode". The moment after Mako said that, a large blue sea serpent with a white stomach without eyes and with large sharp teeth appeared on the field with a roar, Atk & Def: 1800-2340/1500-1950.

Tea got a worried expression, "That monster has 2340 attack points now, and Yugi doesn't have any monsters or face down cards, if this attack succeeds, then Yugi will lose". Tristan also had a worried expression on his face while Joey narrowed his eyes, he refused to believe his eyes, he refused to believe that Yugi was about to lose.

Mako looked at Yami with a smirk on his face, "Looks like this is the end, looks like I'm about to beat the only guy that ever defeated Seto Kaiba". He then pointed at Yami, "Now Kairyu-Shin, attack him with your Tidal Attack". Kairyu-Shin roared once again and a massive tidal wave formed and moved towards Yami.

However right before the tidal wave hit Yami's platform, it suddenly died out, much to not only Mako's shocked but also Yugi's friends.

Yami with a smile held up a monster card with the image of a mechanical looking turtle with a magnet on its tail, "Sorry, but I activated the effect of my Electromagnetic Turtle in my graveyard that's in my graveyard. During your turn's battle phase, I can remove it from the game in order to instantly end the battle phase".

Mako got a smile on his face when he heard that, "So not only did you bring back an enhanced Summoned Skull, you also prepared a back up plan just in case you lost both of your monsters". He was really impressed that Yami had thought ahead like that since many of the opponents he had faced didn't do that.

Yami narrowed his eyes, "However, it only saves me this turn, which means that since the card in my hand can't help me, my next draw will determine if I'm going to survive your next turn". Yami couldn't help but smile despite being in such a tough spot sine Mako was a tough opponent that he had great respect for.

Mako nodded his head, "I guess you're right about that, so let's see if the Lady Luck is on your side today Yugi". He was curious to see if Yami could get out of this situation.

Yami looked at his deck with a determined expression, _Alright deck, this is an all or nothing moment, but I believe in you,_ Yami thought to himself as he placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it, he then looked at Mako, "I place one monster in defense mode and end my turn". A spot lit up in front of Yami as his turn ended.

Mako then placed his fingers on his deck, "My turn then". He drew his next card and looked at it, "Now I summon my second Great White in attack mode". A second Great White jumped out of the water, Atk & Def: 1600-2080/800-1040.

Mako looked at Yami's face down monster with a serious expression, he had a feeling that Yami's face down monster might either high defense points or a special ability to save him and attacking could be risky, however a smirk appeared on his face.

"Growing up knowing how unpredictable the seas can be, I'm not afraid to take risks". He then pointed at Yami's face down monster, "Now Kairyu-Shin, attack his face down monster with your Tidal Attack". Kairyu-Shin let out a mighty roar and unleashed another tidal wave then went towards Yami's field and hit it full force.

However Mako narrowed his eyes when he saw a warrior with a large shield on the field, Def: 2600. Mako LP: 2070-1810, "So the monster you had face down was Big Shield Gardna huh? Well he might have survived Kairyu-Shin's attack, however now his weakness will kick in".

Big Shield Gardna then rose to his feet and moved his shield to his side, Atk: 100. Tea had a shocked expression on her face, "What just happened?" She looked at Joey as she asked that, while Tristan also looked at Joey with a confused expression.

Joey narrowed his eyes, "Big Shield Gardna has really high defense points for a level 4 monster, however because of that, if he manage to survive an attack, he'll be forced in to attack mode after the battle, where he has only 100 attack points". Tea and Tristan got worried expressions on their faces, if Mako had chosen to attack with Great White first, then Yami would have lost when Kairyu-Shin attacked Big Shield Gardna afterwards.

Mako then pointed at Big Shield Gardna, "Now Great White, attack his Big Shield Gardna". Great White jumped out of the water and sank his teeth in to Big Shield Gardna, who screamed in pain before he got destroyed, Yami LP: 2110-130.

Yami placed his fingers on his deck, "Now since Big Shield Gardna got destroyed, I get to draw one card thanks to Supply Squad". Yami drew his next card and saw that he had drawn a red and blue dragon called Des Volstgalph.

Mako looked at Yami, "Looks like you managed to survive this turn, I end my turn now". Mako then looked at Yami with a serious expression, "Now you see the power of the ocean? The ocean can both be calming and beautiful, but it can also be quite deadly, even for the most experienced fishermen".

Yami narrowed his eyes, "You're talking about your father, right?" He realized that something must've happened to Mako's father while he was on the seas from how he was talking.

Mako placed a hand on the display table, "When I was younger, me and my father almost lost our lives in a sudden storm, however a cargo ship happened to pass by at that time and we were saved. My father told me not to be angry at the ocean for the storm since it was just venting is anger, since an oil spill had just happened at an oil platform not long before the storm happened".

Mako then got a depressed expression on his face, "However, a while later my father and a few other fishermen lost their lives in a fishing trip". Mako then looked up at Yami with a determined, "However I made a promise to my father a long time ago, to become the greatest fisherman over, which is why I need to win this tournament, to buy a boat and fulfill that promise to my father".

Yami looked at Mako, "Mako…" He hadn't known how much winning this tournament would mean for Mako, since it would help him keep his promise to his deceased father.

Yami then got a determined expression on his face, "I understand your feelings Mako believe me, and that's because I'm also fighting for not just one, but two people who means a lot to me, and that I need to win my way in to the castle, so I can help both of them". Yami declared with a confident tone. Joey got a smile on his face since he knew that one of the ones Yami was talking about was him and his sister Serenity's situation.

Mako got a smirk on face, "I guess we're quite similar then, then in that case, show me how you will win this duel, I end my turn now". Mako was interested to see if Yami would be able to come back from this situation.

Yami looked at his deck, he had a good combo with Des Volstgalph and Mage Power, however it wouldn't be enough to win the duel, and with less than 200 life points left, he needed to end this now.

Yami drew his next card and looked at it, a smile appeared on his face before he grabbed Des Volstgalph, "I summon Des Volstgalph in attack mode". Des Volstgalph then appeared on all four on the field, Atk: 2200.

Mako got a smirk on his face, "So that's one of the cards you drew thanks to Supply Squad huh? Well it won't save you since its only strong enough to take down Great White, and then Kairyu-Shin will finish him on my next turn". Mako was certain of his victory right and thought that Yami just wanted to fight to the very end.

However Yami got a smirk on his face as he took and revealed Mage Power, "Yeah I don't think so, I now equip my Des Volstgalph with Mage Power, which means he now gains 500 attack and defense points for every spell and trap on my field, in order words, he gains 1000 attack and defense points". Des Volstgalph let out a roar, Atk & Def: 2200-3200/1700-2700.

Mako's eyes widened in shock when he saw that, however a smirk then reappeared on his face, "That's a pretty good move, however that still won't be enough to win this duel".

However Yami wasn't finished as he grabbed the last card in his hand and revealed it, "Not so fast, now I activate Graceful Charity which lets me draw three as long as I discard two". Yami then drew three cards and looked at them before he placed two of them on his graveyard.

Des Volstgalph then let out a roar, Atk: 3200-3400. Yami then explained to Mako who had a shocked expression on his face, "Whenever a normal or quick play spell card is activated, he'll gain 200 attack points until the end phase of this turn".

Yami then looked at Mako, "And with this, the duel is over Mako". Mako got a confused expression on his face while Yami pointed at Great White, "Now Des Volstgalph, attack his Great White". Des Volstgalph roared before he unleashed a stream of blue flames from his mouth that hit Great White who jumped out of the water and it twisted its body in pain from the flamed before it got destroyed, Mako LP: 1810-490.

Mako then looked at Yami with a confused expression on his face, "You said that the duel was already over, however I still have almost 500 life points left".

However he then saw how Des Volstgalph once again began to gather blue flames in his mouth, "Not quite, you see, when Des Volstgalph destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard, the opponent takes 500 points of damage". Yami explained calmly to Mako whose eyes widened in shock before he closed his eyes with a satisfied smile on his face. Des Volstgalph then unleashed another stream of blue flames directly towards Mako and hit his platform, Mako LP: 490-0.

Tea, Joey and Tristan were silent for a few seconds before all three of them cheered loudly, "Alright, you did it Yug!" Joey shouted with a smile before he did a double high five with Tea and Tristan.

The platforms then got lowered and Yami and Mako walked towards each other. Mako then held out the three star chips he had betted with a smile on his face, "That was an amazing duel Yugi, if I hadn't been so cautious of your face down monster I would've had you, but I guess Lady Luck favored you in this duel".

Yami smiled as he took the star chips and placed them in to his Duel Glove, bringing him up to six star chips, he then looked at Mako again, "I know, you're a really skilled duelist Mako, and since you're still in the tournament, you can still make it to the finals, and if we both make it then I hope that we can duel again". Mako nodded his head with as his smile grew bigger and he and Yami grabbed each other hands in a friendly gesture while Tea, Tristan and Joey looked at them with a smile.

"I agree with Yug, I hope that Mako makes it in to the castle as well, I mean me or Yugi needs to win this tournament in order to get the prize money for my sister and to save gramps, but I at least hope that Mako gets a chance to fulfill his promise to his old man". Joey said as he looked at Mako and Yami and Tea and Tristan nodded their heads since they agreed with him.

Yami then turned towards his friends and a bright light came out of his puzzle and Yugi regained control over his body as he walked towards his friends before he turned towards Mako again, "What are you going to do now Mako".

Mako smiled at the gang before e turned towards the ocean, "I'm gonna go fishing again, dueling against you made me really hungry, and besides…" He looked over his shoulder the gang again before he continued, "I'm gonna need more bait for other duelists". He then jumped off of the cliff and in to the ocean with his spear and began swimming.

Tristan chuckled as he looked at his friends, "Man that guy sure was interesting, and he was really nice too once we got to know him". Joey and Tea nodded their heads while Yugi looked over at the cliff, if possible he would have liked to talk to Mako a bit more before he and his friends turned around and began walking away from the cliff, hoping to find another opponent for either Yugi or Joey.


End file.
